2808. THAT IF IN THE WORLD, THE SPHERE OF THOUGHTS OF LOVE, AND LOVE OF GAIN WERE ABSENT, ALL WOULD BE INSANITIES. I saw an insane woman [insanum] in the street, and it was granted to think and to say to spirits, therefore also to perceive, that if in man that external were absent, which is formed from love of self and of gain, consequently therefore the respect from which is paid to these, then would all be alike, with a variety of insanity according to each one's nature acquired from [by] himself. Such thoughts are like those of that insane woman which in her case [apud eum] were not retained, because she was poor and in ragged garments. Hence may be evident of what quality are spirits in the other life where such external is taken away and thought only prevails, to wit, that [they would be] mere insanities if they were not governed by the Lord alone, therefore by wisdom and intelligence itself. - 1748, August 13.