De fine non est consilium, sed solum de his quae sunt ad finem, quia consilium est quaestio.
Counsel is not of the end, but of the means, because counsel is an investigation.
Finis in operabilibus habet rationem principii, eo quod rationes eorum quae sunt ad finem ex fine sumuntur. Principium autem non cadit sub quaestione, sed principia oportet supponere in omni inquisitione.
The end has the formal aspect of the principle in practical matters, because the formal aspects of the means are found in the end. Now the principle cannot be made subject to the investigation, but must be presupposed in every investigation.
De operationibus est consilium, inquantum ordinantur ad aliquem finem. Unde si aliqua operatio humana sit finis, de ea, inquantum huiusmodi, non est consilium.
Counsel is about [practical] operations, insofar as they are ordained to some end. Consequently if any human act be an end, it will not, as such, be the matter of counsel.
Tamen contingit id quod est finis respectu quorundam, ordinari ad alium finem (sicut etiam id quod est principium unius demonstrationis, est conclusio alterius). Et ideo id quod accipitur ut finis in una inquisitione, potest accipi ut ad finem in alia inquisitione: et sic de eo erit consilium.
Nevertheless it may happen that what is the end in regard to some things, is ordained to something else (just as also what is the principle of one demonstration, is the conclusion of another). And consequently that which is looked upon as the end in one investigation, may be looked upon as the means in another: and thus it will become an object of counsel.