From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Preservation
preservation; continued blessings; uphold; conservation
Preservation is the sustaining of something already given or made.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPreservation is the sustaining of something already given or made.
- In TraherneII.91 applies a theological maxim to the life of thought.
- In this editionThe 2026 note identifies the maxim as conservation understood as continued creation.
- A place to beginMoves from each moment’s divine preservation to the faithful maintenance and repair of the world apprehended within the soul.
Meaning
Preservation is the sustaining of something already given or made. Traherne’s theological starting point treats every moment of continued existence as a renewed gift. Conservation is a useful historical synonym, though it is not the word used in the meditation.
Use in the book
II.91 applies a theological maxim to the life of thought. Because preservation may be understood as creation continued, a blessing’s duration increases the recipient’s obligation rather than diminishing its worth. Familiarity ought not to make what remains available seem less gratuitous or less precious.
Traherne then makes sustained inward attention the human counterpart of this divine continuance. The soul constructs an inward apprehension of heaven and earth for God; each faithful continuation of that apprehension has worth, not only the original moment of discovery. A sudden imaginative achievement can be easy for a wise person, whereas maintaining it calls for diligence and love. The ability to demolish or rebuild one’s inward world does not excuse instability.
Preservation therefore corrects a possible enthusiasm for novelty. The first vision of beauty is not the only spiritually important moment. Repairing attention, restoring a weakened apprehension, and continuing to esteem what one already knows are themselves acts of fidelity. The analogy does not claim that human thought keeps the physical universe in existence. Its object is the world’s living presence in the soul and the soul’s continuing offering of that presence to God.
Places to read
- II.91Moves from each moment’s divine preservation to the faithful maintenance and repair of the world apprehended within the soul.
In this edition
The 2026 note identifies the maxim as conservation understood as continued creation. Keep the two levels distinct: God sustains created being; the meditator sustains an inward, appreciative apprehension of creation.
Source note
Primary text: II.91. Supplied 2026 editorial note 156 explains the theological maxim of conservation as continued creation.
From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Conservation and preservation
servare; conservare; conservator; influxus; permanere; perseverare
Servare and conservare keep or preserve; conservator is the preserving cause.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordServare and conservare keep or preserve; conservator is the preserving cause.
- In the Platonic TheologyPreservation is the continuing gift of existence, not merely protection against accidental damage.
- In this editionII.7.18–192 deliberately covers both an always-existing world and one that began.
- A place to readMatter’s making and preservation require a form not inhering in matter.
Meaning
Servare and conservare keep or preserve; conservator is the preserving cause. Permanere and perseverare describe the dependent thing’s continued existence, which is not the same as self-sufficient causation.
Use in the book
Preservation is the continuing gift of existence, not merely protection against accidental damage. Ficino argues that a dependent thing cannot maintain itself independently once it has been produced. If God's universe existed always, there would be no privileged first moment in which it received being; it must receive being at every moment. If it began, it needs the same preservation. Thus the argument deliberately covers both alternatives rather than settling the world's temporal beginning here. The analogy of a statue distinguishes levels: an artwork endures because natural stone or bronze remains solid; natural things endure through divine influx. Shadow and mirror-image analogies then emphasize constant dependence upon a source. The world is not simply an artifact abandoned by its maker. Ficino extends the point from existence to agency: God preserves the angel's being, power, and action, and therefore remains active in what the angel does. Continuous dependence is the organizing force of the vocabulary.
Further passage references. II.4.6; II.6.11; II.7.17–2523456789
Places to read
- I.3.18Matter’s making and preservation require a form not inhering in matter.
- II.4.6Production without a prior subject is joined to continual preservation.
- II.7.18–192Both temporal-origin alternatives require ongoing divine preservation.
- II.7.24Angelic action operates through the received divine power as an instrument does through its maker.
Translation in this edition
II.7.18–192 deliberately covers both an always-existing world and one that began. Do not convert this preservation argument into a decision about the world’s first temporal moment. The continuous gift concerns being, not only protection from damage.
continuus / assiduus
continuus / assiduus. Printed forms: assidue; continue; continuo.
Continuous or unceasing. Preservation and causal dependence persist at every moment rather than occurring only once in the past. References: II.7.19, II.7.22, II.7.23. See Conservation and preservation.
dissolubilis / indissolubilis
dissolubilis / indissolubilis. Printed forms: dissolubiles; dissolubilia; indissolubiles.
Dissoluble / indissoluble. Some created beings are described as dissoluble in themselves but preserved indissoluble; God’s indissolubility has a different ground. References: III.1.5. See Conservation and preservation.
edere / servare / conservare
edere / servare / conservare. Printed forms: conservari; conservat; conservatore; edit; servantur; servat; servatque; servaturque.
To bring forth and preserve in existence. The continuing grant of being, power, and action is distinguished from an initial act followed by independence. References: II.4.6, II.5.1, II.7.19, II.7.23. See Conservation and preservation.
facio / servo
facio / servo. Printed forms: facit; servatque.
To make and preserve. The form that produces matter must also preserve it; quality’s own dependence on matter prevents assigning it that foundational role. References: I.3.18. See Conservation and preservation.
permanere / perseverare
permanere / perseverare. Printed forms: permanent; permanet; perseveret.
To remain or persist. Persistence is not self-sufficiency: the effect endures through continual preserving power. References: II.5.1, II.7.17, II.7.21. See Conservation and preservation.
ruere in nihilum
ruere in nihilum. Printed forms: in nihilum ruituras.
To fall suddenly into nothing. The phrase intensifies the preserving-cause argument: even momentary absence of being itself would remove existence. References: II.6.11. See Conservation and preservation.
se habere
se habere. Printed forms: habituras.
To fare or be in a condition. The future participle habituras agrees with res in the indirect question about how badly things would fare without God; it is not habitual possession. References: II.6.11. See Conservation and preservation.