Pico Della Mirandola: Oration On the Dignity of Man
... so much more than these things that they mention. Mirandola feels that man is only second to God because after he made heavens decorated with intelligences (which are more than likely the angels) and the lower world which include the animals, then he began to think about creating man that was like nothing else that had already been made. Another reason why man is so magnificent according to Mirandola is that God gave him no limitations as far as place to live or function that is his alone. God gave man his own desires and judgement to acquire whatever he wants. All other things have a limited nature and are bounded by our laws. Man who was placed in the center of the world has the power to degrade himself into the lower forms of life like beasts and also the power contained in his intellect and judgement to be reborn into the higher forms, the divine. Still another reason man is so great is that he shapes himself. When an animal is born it has all that it will ever have at that time. A spiritual being will be whatever he is for eternity. Man, however, is created with seeds of every kind. Whichever ones he plants are what he beco...