By the inimitable Peter Kreeft:
"Man is the only being that is both angel and animal, both spirit and body. He is
the lowest spirit and the highest body, the stupidest angel and the smartest
animal, the low point of the hierarchy of minds and the high point of the
hierarchy of bodies.
More accurately stated, man is not both angel and animal because he is
neither angel nor animal; he is between angels and animals, a unique rung on the
cosmic ladder.
But whichever way you say it, man must know angels to know himself, just as
he must know animals to know himself, for he must know what he is, and he must
know what he is not."
