From a great deal of daily experience now for 3 years I have been enabled to learn that both earthling and spirit is forced to think and speak that which the Lord either permits or grants. For whether I wanted to or not, I had to think and speak as I did. Likewise in the case of spirits, they are forced to speak contrary to what they think, and they cannot possibly stop themselves, being taken into a society together with others and thus carried off as if by a river of thinking and speaking. Spirits complained about this, that is, those who had considered that they think and speak everything on their own, and it was proven to them by actual experience, as it was to me, that this is not the case. Moreover, when this fact is not revealed, or when one is not given to reflect on the matter, everyone, earthling as well as soul and spirit, suppose they speak on their own, so they are taught through this experience to realize that they are nothing, because they can neither think nor speak from themselves, although they think they do. Evil spirits, even though they are taught by such experience of their own and that of others, as well as by being permitted to force other spirits into speaking together with them, still do not want to believe that it is so, for this goes against their self-love because they want to be able to do all things down to the very least on their own power. 1748, 27 May.