2560. The same thing happened to me when I was let loose, and I also at once rushed into evil. So there is nothing but evil in the human character, and goodness and mercy belong to the Lord Alone, Who holds the universal heaven and the world of spirits bound in such a way that they almost do not know they are evil, in fact, think goodness comes from them. About this matter I have spoken with [spirits] several times who were wanting to claim goodness to themselves. The human race is similarly restrained, although they do not know it, so that if the spiritual bond of the Lord were loosed, one would at once rush at another as a wild animal rushes at a wild animal. About that bond still very much remains to be told, but elsewhere, as the Lord sees fit [see 2737-9, 2943]. 1748, 7 July.