And it is in the misuse of the free will that the
privation which constitutes the characteristic nature of error
is met with. Privation, I say, is found in the act, in so far
as it proceeds from me, but it is not found in the faculty
which I have received from God, nor even in the act in so far
as it depends on Him.
For I have certainly no cause to complain that God has
not given me an intelligence which is more powerful, or a
natural light which is stronger than that which I have
received from Him, since it is proper to the finite
understanding not to comprehend a multitude of things, and it
is proper to a created understanding to be finite; on the
contrary, I have every reason to render thanks to God who owes
me nothing and who has given me all the perfections I possess,
and I should be far from charging Him with injustice, and with
having deprived me of, or wrongfully withheld from me, these
perfections which He has not bestowed upon me.
I have further no reason to complain that He has given me
a will more ample than my understanding, for since the will
consists only of one single element, and is so to speak
indivisible, it appears that its nature is such that nothing
can be abstracted from it [without destroying it]; and
certainly the more comprehensive it is found to be, the more
reason I have to render gratitude to the giver.
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