Augustine of Hippo, on Matt 6:26

“Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?”

“(Serm. in Mont. ii. 15.) Ye are of more value, because a rational animal, such as man is, is higher in the scale of nature than an irrational, such as are the birds of the air.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.