126. The first source of duty, then, is prudence. Cic. de Off. I. 6. For what is more of a duty than to give to the Creator all one’s devotion and reverence? This source, however, is drawn off into other virtues. For justice cannot exist without prudence, since it demands no small amount of prudence to see whether a thing is just or unjust. A mistake on either side is very serious. “For he that says a just man is unjust, or an unjust man is just, is accursed with God. Wherefore does justice Some mss. have “injustitiæ,” others “pecuniæ,” which seems to be a correction to bring it into harmony with the LXX: “ἱνατί ὑπῆρξε χρήματα ἄφρονι.” abound unto the wicked?” Prov. xvii. 15 [LXX.]. says Solomon. Nor, on the other hand, can prudence exist without justice, for piety towards God is the beginning of understanding. On which we notice that this is a borrowed rather than an original idea among the worldly wise, for piety is the foundation of all virtues.