Key ideas: Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) was one of the greatest thinkers of the 17th and 18th centuries.
I was satisfied with what I was among men, but I was not satisfied with human nature....
One day, being fatigued from these thoughts, I fell asleep and found myself in a dark place which resembled an underground cavern.
It was vast and very deep and everywhere there swarmed men who strangely rushed into the darkness in pursuit of luminous trifles they called “honors,” or glittering little flies they called “riches.” There were many who searched the ground for bright bits of rotten wood they called “sensual pleasures.” Each of these evil lights had its followers; there were some who had changed sides and others who had quit the chase altogether because of exhaustion or despair.
Some of those who ran blindly and often believed they had reached their goal fell into crevasses, out of which only moans were heard. Some were bitten by scorpions and other venomous creatures that left them wretched and often mad. Yet neither these examples nor the arguments of persons better informed stopped others from chasing the same hazards and even entering into fights in order to forestall rivals or keep themselves from being forestalled....
I began often to look above me and finally recognized the small light which demanded so much attention. It seemed to me to grow stronger the more I gazed steadily at it....
A venerable old man who had wandered for a long time in the cave and who had had thoughts very similar to mine told me that this light was what is called “intelligence” or “reason” in us.
I often changed position in order to test the different holes in the vault that furnished this small light, and when I was located in a spot where several beams could be seen at once from their true point of view, I found a collection of rays which greatly enlightened me. This technique was of great help to me and left me more capable of acting in the darkness...
It soon expanded and I saw before me the image of a young man whose beauty enchanted my senses. [...] He called me by name and spoke to me in a charming voice: “Give thanks to the divine goodness which releases you from this madness.” ...
“Mighty spirit—for I cannot doubt that you are of the number of those celestial figures who make up the court surrounding the sovereign of the universe—since you have wanted to clarify so my eyes, will you do as much for my mind?”
It seemed to me that he smiled at this speech and took pleasure in hearing of my desire.
“Your wish is granted,” he said to me, “since you hold wisdom above the pleasure of those vain spectacles the world presents to your eyes.
However, you will lose nothing that is substantial in those same spectacles. You will see everything with eyes clarified in a completely different way. Your understanding being fortified from above, it will discover everywhere the brilliant illumination of the divine author of things. You will recognize only wisdom and happiness, wherever men are accustomed to find only vanity and bitterness. You will be content with your creator; you will be enraptured with the vision of his works. Your admiration will not be the effect of ignorance as it is with the vulgar. It will be the fruit of knowledge of the grandeur and marvels of God.