4659. CONCERNING THE STATE OF THOSE WHO ARE IN HELL, IN RESPECT TO THOSE WHO ARE IN HEAVEN. When I had observed, for a considerable time, that the evil who are from the hells were most cunning, so that they appeared cleverer than others (for they could devise arts, whereby they might seduce others and persuade to falses, together with arguments, and could defend evils and falses with such ingenuity that, at first, I supposed that they were more intelligent than the upright; yet, that I believed this, is because I considered it to be intelligence to ingeniously persuade to falses, and mislead; as, also, it appears); but, still, I observed afterwards, that their state was wholly different; for they suffer, themselves to be misled by phantasies, so that those things which come to pass by means of phantasies, they believe to be wholly real. This was shown in a thousand ways. Moreover, they are completely borne away by their nature, just like beasts. They act therefrom; thus, are not able to see whether anything is advantageous for them, or not; thus, they are without reflection, without shame, without fear, but still are more malignant than beasts, for they have abused the intellectual faculty to forming that nature. Hence, it was evident, that they are anything else than intelligent - malice is not intelligence - but that they are, as it were, insane. The reason is, because they are remitted into their evil and the false thence; and the intellectual faculty of feigning and doing anything save as their nature impels them, is taken away from them. Were it otherwise, they would then continually become worse, and would wholly lose the remaining human itself. But it is otherwise with the upright: these, because they are in truths and goods, and hence in heavenly light, are, therefore, intelligent and wise. Their wisdom cannot be described; the reason is because wisdom is to know truths and to do goods: in these, is the Divine. But insanity is to will and do evils, and thence think and speak falses. Because these are in the opposite condition, and not at all in any light of heaven from truth and good, therefore, they are insane, and hardly differ from beasts, save in the circumstance, that they are more malignant than beasts are.