The poem
Because gods perceive future things, men what is happening now, but wise men perceive approaching things.
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, VIII, 7.
Men know what is happening now. The gods know the things of the future, the full and sole possessors of all lights. Of the future things, wise men perceive approaching things. Their hearing
is sometimes, during serious studies, disturbed. The mystical clamor of approaching events reaches them. And they heed it with reverence. While outside on the street, the peoples hear nothing at all.