The Lord bestowed upon these men whom the world admires, priceless intellectual gifts; He endowed them with master minds; but they did not use their powers to the glory of God. They separated themselves from Him, as did Satan; but while they separated themselves from Him, they still retained many of the precious gems of thought which He had given them. These they have placed in a framework of error, to give luster to their own human sentiments, to make attractive the utterances inspired by the prince of evil. {CT 26.1}

Herren har givet disse mænd, som verden beundrer, uvurderlige intellektuelle gaver; Han har begavet dem med overmådelige tankesind; men de brugte ikke deres kræfter til Guds ære. De adskilte sig selv fra Ham, ligesom Satan gjorde; men selvom de skilte sig selv fra Ham, beholdt de stadig mange af de dyrebare tankejuveler som Han havde givet dem. Disse har sat dem i vildfarelsens netværk, for at begære deres egne menneskelige følelser, og gøre udtalelserne attraktive, der er indgydt af den onde fyrste.