109. The intelligence which is wedded to the intellect and which gives help to the soul is a gift of God. But the intelligence which is full of babbling and which investigates the measurements and distances of sky and earth, and the size of the sun and the stars, characterizes a man who labors in vain. Fruitlessly vaunting himself, he pursues what is without profit, as if wishing to draw water with a sieve; for no man can resolve these matters.
—St Anthony the Great
On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life
One Hundred and Seventy Texts