Just as a building which begins to part company with its foundations is inclined to collapse, so a mystical exposition which deviates from the literal sense must be considered unseemly and inappropriate, or at any rate less seemly and less appropriate, than other interpretations. So those who wish to make headway in the study of Holy Scripture must begin by understanding the literal sense.
–Nicholas of Lyra (called Doctor planus et utilis), Postilla on the Song of Songs