We see, too, that it has almost never happened that any of their disciples have surpassed them; and I am sure that the most passionate present-day followers of Aristotle would count themselves fortunate if they had as much knowledge of nature as he had, even on the condition that they would never have more. They are like ivy, which tends never to grow higher than the trees that support it, and often even grows back down once it has reached their tops. For it seems to me that modern Aristotelians also come back down, that is, make themselves in a certain way less knowledgeable than if they had
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