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Hence, as Narcissus, by catching at the shadow, plunged himself in the stream and disappeared, so he who is captivated by beautiful bodies, and does not depart from their embrace, is precipitated, not with his body, but with his soul, into a darkness profound and repugnant to intellect (the higher soul), through which, remaining blind both here and in Hades, he associates with shadows.

— Plotinus The First Ennead (250)

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Pleasure and distress, fear and courage, desire and aversion, where have these affections and experiences their seat?

The First Ennead (250)

Let us, therefore, re-ascend to the good itself, which every soul desires; and in which it can alone find perfect repose.

All teems with symbol; the wise man is the man who in any one thing can read another.

The First Ennead (250)

It is by participation of species that we call every sensible object beautiful.

What, then, must be the condition of that being, who beholds the beautiful itself?

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Plotinus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.