It was said unto the apostles of the Lord, Be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Christ therefore wished there to be in us the nature of different creatures: but in such a sort that the harmlessness of the dove might temper the serpent's wisdom, and the wisdom of the serpent might instruct the harmlessness of the dove, and that so wisdom might be made harmless and harmlessness wise.
St. Hilary of Poitiers, De Synodis 23.
