2804. But as regards the human character, as long as one is in the body everything is of course retained that has been brought in since infancy, and so it develops. But in the course of life it changes, even up to the last hour of life. It changes because many elements are added, separating general ideas, bending them in a different direction, thus toward goodness and truth. For as long as a person lives, mental images are constantly being expanded, either by evils or by goods, and are thereby either condensed, so to speak, like stagnant water, or diluted. 1748, 13 Aug.