206、人自己的谨慎来自何处，它是什么。它来自人的自我，也就是他的本性，被称为来自父亲的灵魂。这自我就是自我之爱和由此而来的尘世之爱，或尘世之爱和由此而来的自我之爱。只关心自己，视别人为无关紧要，或微不足道，是自我之爱的本质。即便考虑到一些人，也只是因为他们恭敬并讨好它。就像种子里面有结出果实并繁育后代的努力，自我之爱的核心处也潜藏着变得伟大的欲望，如有可能，还想成为国王，如还有可能，甚至想成为神。魔鬼就是这样，因为他是自我之爱本身；他具有这样的性质：他崇拜他自己，只喜爱那些崇拜他的人，仇恨像他自己那样的任何其他魔鬼，因为他想成为崇拜的唯一对象。由于爱离开它的配偶无法存在，人里面的爱或意愿的配偶被称为理解力，所以当自我之爱将它的爱吹入自己的配偶理解力里面时，这爱就在配偶里面变成一种骄傲，就是对人自己的聪明的骄傲。这种骄傲就是人自己的谨慎的源头。
此外，由于自我之爱想要成为世界的唯一主人，因而成为神，所以从它降下来的恶欲就从它获得生命；属于这些欲望的感知，也就是诡计，属于这些欲望的快乐，也就是邪恶，以及属于这些快乐的思维，也就是虚假，同样如此。它们都如同它们主人的仆人和用人，都服从它们主人的每个命令；殊不知，它们不是真的在行动，而是正在被强迫，被自我之爱通过对它们自己聪明的骄傲强迫。这就是为何人自己的谨慎就潜藏在自其起源开始的一切邪恶中。
唯独对自然的承认也潜藏在它里面，因为它关闭了向天堂敞开的屋顶的窗户，以及两边墙上的窗户，以防止看见并听见：唯独主掌管一切，自然界本身是死的，属于人的一切都是地狱，因此对人自己的东西的爱就是魔鬼。它因窗户被关闭而陷入黑暗，只好在那里为自己搭建炉子，与自己的配偶坐在旁边，一起亲密推理赞成自然界，反对神，赞成人自己的谨慎，反对圣治。
206. The origin and nature of a person's own prudence: A person's own prudence springs from his native character, which is his nature and is called his hereditary soul. This native character is a love of self and a resulting love of the world, or a love of the world and a resulting love of self.
It is the nature of a love of self to regard itself alone, and to view others as either inferior or of no account. If it regards some people as having some value, it does so only as long as it is honored and cultivated by them. Inmostly in that love - like the endeavor in a seed to produce fruit and reproduce itself - lies hidden the wish to become great, and if possible king, and if possible then God.
That is the character of a devil, because a devil is the love of self personified. He is by nature disposed to adore himself and to show no one any favor but one who adores him, too. He hates any other devil of a like character, because he wishes himself alone to be adored.
Since no love can exist without its partner, and the partner of the love or will in a person is called the intellect, therefore when a love of self inspires its love into its partner the intellect, it becomes there conceit, which is a pride in its own intelligence. This is the origin of a person's own prudence.
[2] Now because a love of self wishes to be alone lord of the world, thus also God, therefore the lusts for evil which are its derivatives have the life in them from it, and so, too, the lusts' perceptions, which are cunning and guile. So, too, also the lusts' delights, which are evils, and their accompanying thoughts, which are falsities. These are all like servants and attendants of their lord, who do his every bidding, not knowing that they do not act but are acted upon, being impelled by the love of self through a conceit in their own intelligence. It is because of this that in every evil from its origin lies hidden one's own prudence.
[3] Lying hidden in it as well is an acknowledgement only of nature, because the love has closed the window overhead through which heaven lies open, and also the windows to the sides, to keep it from seeing and hearing that the Lord alone governs all things, that nature in itself is lifeless, and that a person's native character is hell, with the love in that character therefore being the devil. With the windows closed, then, the love is in darkness, and it makes for itself there a hearth, at which it sits with its partner, and they reason amicably in support of nature in opposition to God, and in support of their own prudence in opposition to Divine providence.
206. Where our own prudence comes from and what it is. It comes from what we regard as our own. This is natural to us and is called the soul we get from our parent. This possession of ours is a love for ourselves and a consequent love for the world, or a love for the world and a consequent love for ourselves. By its nature, love for ourselves focuses solely on ourselves and regards others either as worthless or as nothing. If it attaches any importance to them, it lasts only as long as they respect and worship it. At the heart of this love, like the effort to bear fruit and propagate in a seed, is a latent desire to become great--if possible, to become monarch, and then if possible to become God. The devil is like this because the devil is pure love for oneself, a love that inherently worships only itself and favors only those who also worship it. It hates any other devil who is like itself, because it wants to be the only object of worship.
Since no love can exist without its partner, and since the partner of love or volition in humans is called discernment, when love for oneself breathes its love into its consorting discernment, that love becomes a pride that is pride in our own intelligence. That pride is the source of our own prudence.
[2] Further, since love for ourselves wants to be the only master of the world and wants to be God as well, the cravings of evil that descend from it derive their life from it, and so do the perceptions of those cravings, which are schemes. The same holds true for the pleasures of those cravings, which are evil, and for their thoughts, which are distortions. All of them are like servants and employees of their lord, and they all obey every command of their lord without realizing that they are not really acting but are being impelled, impelled by love for ourselves through the means of pride in our own intelligence. This is why our own prudence is latent in every evil from its very beginning.
[3] The reason a recognition of the material world alone is latent in it as well is that it closes the skylights through which we can see heaven and the windows in the walls as well, to prevent us from seeing or hearing that the Lord alone is in control of everything and that the material world is essentially dead, that everything that belongs to us is hell, and that love for what is our own is therefore a devil. With these windows closed, we are in darkness, so we build a hearth in the darkness and sit there with our partners, chatting cordially about the material world as opposed to God and our own prudence as opposed to divine providence.
206. Whence man's own prudence is and what it is. It is from man's proprium which is his nature, and is called his soul from his parent. This proprium is the love of self and the consequent love of the world, or it is the love of the world and the consequent love of self. It is the nature of the love of self to regard self only, and to regard others as insignificant or of no account. If it respects some it is only so long as they honour and pay court to it. Like the effort in the seed to fructify and produce offspring there lies concealed in the inmost of self-love the desire to become great, and if possible to become a king, and then if still possible, to become a god. A devil is such a one, for he is self-love itself; he is such that he adores himself and favours no one who does not also adore him; and another devil like himself he hates because he wishes himself alone to be adored. As no love can exist without its consort, and as the consort of love or of the will in man is called the understanding, therefore when the love of self breathes its own love into its consort the understanding, it there becomes pride, that is the pride of man's own intelligence from which springs man's own prudence.
[2] Now since the love of self desires to be sole lord of the world, and thus a god, therefore the lusts of evil, which are derived from that love, have their life from it; as have in like manner the perceptions belonging to the lusts, perceptions which are cunning devices; as have also the delights pertaining to the lusts, delights which are evils, and as also have the thoughts pertaining to the delights, thoughts which are falsities. All these are like slaves and servants of their lord, responding to his every nod, unaware, however, that they do not act but are only acted upon, being acted upon by the love of self through the pride of their own intelligence. Hence it is that man's own prudence, by virtue of its origin, lies concealed in every evil.
[3] The acknowledgment of nature alone also lies concealed in it because self-love has closed the window on its roof by which heaven lies open and also its side windows, lest it should see and hear that the Lord alone governs all things, that nature in herself is dead, and that man's proprium is hell, and consequently that the love of the proprium is the devil. Then, with its windows closed, it is in darkness and there makes a fire on the hearth for itself at which it sits with its consort; and they reason together in a friendly way in favour of nature as against God, and in favour of man's own prudence as against the Divine Providence.
206. Whence man's prudence is and what it is. It is from man's own (proprium) which is his nature, and is called his soul from his parent. This own is the love of self and the love of the world therefrom, or is the love of the world and the love of self therefrom. It is the nature of the love of self to regard self only, and to regard others as of little or no account; if it gives any consideration to some, it is only so long as they honor and pay court to it. Inmostly in that love, like the endeavor in seed to bring forth fruit or offspring, there lies hidden a desire to become great, and if possible to become a ruler, and still further if possible to become a god. A devil is such, for he is self-love itself; he is such that he adores himself, and favors no one who does not adore him; any other devil like himself he hates, because he wishes to be adored exclusively. As there is no love without its mate, and as the mate of the love or the will in man is called the understanding, when the love of self breathes its own love into its mate, the understanding, this in the mate becomes conceit, which is the conceit of one's own intelligence. This is the origin of one's own prudence.
[2] Since, then, the love of self wills to be the sole lord of the world, and thus a god, the lusts of evil, which are derivatives of that love, have their life from it; the same is true of the perceptions belonging to the lusts, which are devices; also of the delights belonging to the lusts, which are evils; also of the thoughts belonging to the delights, which are falsities. They are all like servants and attendants of their lord and obey his every nod, not knowing that they do not act, but are only acted upon. They are acted upon by the love of self through the conceit of their own intelligence. This makes clear how it is that in every evil, from its origin, one's own prudence lies hidden.
[3] The acknowledgment of nature alone also lies hidden in it, because it has closed the window of its roof which opens heavenward, as well as the side windows, lest it should see and hear that the Lord alone governs all things, and that nature in itself is dead, and that man's own is hell, and consequently the love of one's own is the devil. Then, with its windows closed it is in darkness, and there it makes a hearth for itself at which it sits with its mate, and they reason together in a friendly way in favor of nature and against God, and in favor of one's own prudence and against the Divine providence.
206. UNDE ET QUID propria prudentia, est illa ex proprio hominis, quod est natura ejus, et vocatur anima ejus ex parente; id proprium est amor sui et inde amor mundi, aut amor mundi et inde amor sui: amor sui talis est, ut se solum spectet, et alios vel sicut viles vel sicut nihili; si quosdam ut aliquid, est quamdiu illum honorant et colunt; intime in illo amore, sicut conatus fructificandi et prolificandi in semine, latet quod velit fieri magnas, et si potest, fieri rex, et si tunc potest, fieri deus: talis est diabolus, quia ille est ipse amor sui; hic talis est ut seipsum adoret, et non alicui faveat, nisi qui etiam illum adorat; alium diabolum sibi similem odio habet, quia vult solus adorari. Quoniam non dari potest aliquis amor absque sua consorte, et consors amoris seu voluntatis in homine vocatur intellectus, 1cum amor sui intellectui consorti suae inspirat suum amorem, fit ille ibi fastus, 2qui est fastus propriae intelligentiae; inde est propria prudentia.
[2] Nunc quia amor sui vult solus Dominus mundi esse, ita quoque deus, ideo concupiscentiae mali, quae sunt derivationes ejus, in se habent vitam ex illo, similiter perceptiones concupiscentiarum, 3quae sunt astutiae; similiter etiam concupiscentiarum jucunda quae sunt mala, et illorum cogitationes quae sunt falsa: omnia sunt sicut servi et ministri sui domini, et ad omnem ejus nutum agunt, nescientes quod non agant, sed quod agantur; aguntur ab amore sui per fastum propriae intelligentiae: inde est, quod in omni malo ex origine sua lateat propria prudentia.
[3] Quod etiam lateat agnitio solius naturae, est quia occlusit fenestram tecti sui, per quam patet Coelum, et quoque fenestras laterum, ne videat et audiat quod solus Dominus regat omnia, et quod natura in se mortua sit, et quod proprium hominis sit infernum, et inde amor proprii diabolus, et tunc fenestris clausis ille est in tenebris, et ibi facit sibi focum, ad quem ille cum sua consorte sedet, et pro natura contra Deum, et pro propria prudentia contra Divinam Providentiam 4amice ratiocinantur.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: intellectus;
2 Prima editio: fastas,
3 Prima editio: concpuiscentiarum,
4 Prima editio: Providentsam