The Egyptians think that little children possess the power of prophecy, and they try to divine the future from the portents which they find in children's words, especially when children are playing about in holy places and crying out whatever chances to come into their minds.
[Plutarch, Isis and Osiris XIV, as translated by Frank Cole Babbitt.]
More found Plotinian wisdom, this time from a sketchbook that my daughter bought somewhere:
Plethon was a Greek Neoplatonist who played a major role in kickstarting the Platonic revival of the Renaissance. He wrote a lot of expository material about Platonism and Neoplatonism which, unfortunately, were mostly burned by the Church after he died. One of his surviving texts is a very brief Summary of the Doctrines of Zoroaster and Plato, which outlines twelve bullet points which form the core of a Platonist religion, much like an even more condensed On the Gods and the World. (Plethon evidently believed that Zoroaster was the original source of Pythagoreanism and hence of Platonism.)
Below is John Opsopaus' summary of the Summary. (The original is not much longer, though.) I thought it might be of interest to those who are interested in dipping their toes into Neoplatonism.
The gods exist, the chief of whom is Zeus.
The gods look after us, either directly or through their subordinates.
The gods are the causes of good, not of evil, for humans and other beings.
The gods act according to an immutable fate emanated from Zeus.
The All, including gods of the second [e.g. supercelestial] and third [e.g. celestial] orders, was created by Zeus and is everlasting.
The All is a unity assembled from many things.
The All was created perfectly.
The All is preserved immutably.
The human soul, being akin to the gods, is immortal and everlasting.
The human soul is always attached to one or another mortal body and, by joining the immortal to the mortal, contributes to the unity of the All.
Because of human kinship with the gods, the good is the goal that suits our life.
The gods, by fixing the laws of humankind, place our happiness in the immortal part of our being.
Thee, mighty-ruling, Dæmon dread, I call,
Mild Jove, life-giving, and the source of all:
Great Jove, much-wand'ring, terrible and strong,
To whom revenge and tortures dire belong.
Mankind from thee, in plenteous wealth abound,
When in their dwellings joyful thou art found;
Or pass thro' life afflicted and distress'd,
The needful means of bliss by thee supprest.
'Tis thine alone endu'd with boundless might,
To keep the keys of sorrow and delight.
O holy, blessed father, hear my pray'r,
Disperse the seeds of life-consuming care;
With fav'ring mind the sacred rites attend,
And grant my days a glorious, blessed end.
(Orphic Hymn LXXII "To the Dæmon," as translated by Thomas Taylor.)
We sing of holy daimons, who are near to us,
to them and also to the other deathless ones,
for daimons serve quite well the gods who're more divine,
bestow the many benefits on our behalf,
disperse them all, which they receive from Zeus himself,
and which descend to us through all the other gods.
And thus they save us, with some purifying us,
and others elevating or protecting us,
and easily straightening our minds. And so, be kind.
(Plethon, Twelfth Monthly Hymn, to the Daimons, as translated by John Opsopaus.)
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