5644. It is the same with a love of self: if one knows from truths of faith that this love is infernal, thus that it is hell, then good through the inner sight makes a mental picture itself about this love of hell for itself, at which it is horrified. On this account, as soon as something such as belongs to this love presents itself again, and good realizes that it is such, then with its sight the good in the will considers the mental image of hell, and then is withheld by the Lord from those things which belong to love of self; and the more one is restrained and the better the good is, the more one begins to know many things, for the desire of knowing develops depending on the goodness coming from love, and it also increases through the increases in goodness, eventually with the result that one is aware of the type and kind of the love of self, and this happens in oneself. As a consequence one becomes wiser and wiser. Such is the speech of mental images, when genuine. For this reason those who are evil cannot bear it, for they have a different and contrary speech of mental images that arises from evil's false concepts.
5644. quod ille amor sit infernalis, ita quod infernum, tunc facit bonum per visum internum sibi de illo amore ideam inferni, ad quam horret, quapropter ut primum recurrit tale quod amoris illius, et percipit quod tale sit, tunc bonum voluntatis per visum suum introspicit in ideam inferni, et tunc a Domino detinetur ab illis quae amoris sui sunt, et quo magis detinetur, et quo melius bonum est, eo plura scire incipit, nam desiderium sciendi crescit secundum bonum amoris, et quoque augetur per augmenta boni, tandem ut sentiat amoris sui genera et species, et hoc in se; inde fit magis et magis sapiens; talis est loquela idearum, cum genuina; quare mali non sustinent illam, quia aliam et contrariam loquelam idearum habent, quae est ex falsis mali.