"No, they are not things to be looked at, but to be reasoned about."
"What! shall I never see you again, and shall I only reason about you in future?"
"You will never again see those paltry limbs in which I formerly went about; but me you will have with you still, that is, my reason, my ——"
"Oh, Aristus! what have you done?"
"Surely you do not regret what I have done. I have attained to that pure and exalted condition which is natural to me,—I have become a genuine mind, and shall pass the rest of my days in free contemplation. But this is not all, I have happy tidings for you; the household god, at my entreaty, has consented to extricate you also from your body. You have only to repair to the sea, and as soon as you have sprinkled a little salt water in your face, and repeated a word, which I will teach you, your body will release you, and you will see it crumble away. Let us immediately go to the sea, and practise this enchantment."
"Indeed if I thought water would have such an effect I would never wash my face again."
"You do not seriously mean to be so perverse as to neglect this opportunity of quitting your body."
"Really I do not understand what is the advantage of being without a body."
"Have I not often explained to you that the mind by being disengaged from the limbs is able to think with all its natural vigour?"
"My limbs do not prevent me from thinking: I have now as many thoughts as I desire, and do not wish to lose so much as a finger."