An objection arises: if cognition connects knowledge and life, does every instance of life actually possess a particular act of knowing? A living being may lack knowledge of a particular fact, so the exact relation must be stated carefully.
Actual cognition and a condition or capacity related to cognition are not identical. It would therefore be excessive to treat the simile as saying that every living thing knows everything at all times.
The example shows that even an intellectual-to-intellectual simile requires careful formulation of its point of likeness.