This is why it is thought that these qualities are a natural gift, and that a man is considerate, understanding and intelligent by nature, though no one is a wise man by nature. [6] That this is so is indicated by our thinking of them as going with certain ages: we say that at such and such an age a man must have got intelligence and considerateness, which implies that they come by nature.
[Hence Intelligence is both a beginning and an end, for these things are both the starting-point and the subject matter of demonstration.]3
Consequently the unproved assertions and opinions of experienced and elderly people, or of prudent men,4 are as much deserving of attention as those which they support by proof; for experience has given them an eye for things, and so they see correctly. [7]
We have now discussed the nature and respective spheres of Prudence and Wisdom, and have shown that each is the virtue of a different part of the soul.12.
But the further question may be raised, What is the use of these intellectual virtues? Wisdom does not consider the means to human happiness at all,