Page:The Swedenborg Library Vol 3.djvu/259

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THE END IS THE DOMINANT LOVE.
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cannot be in a state to exercise charity toward his neighbor, being in want of all things.

The end regarded plainly declares how every man is neighbor to himself, and how he ought first to provide for himself. If this end be to grow richer than others merely for the sake of riches, or pleasure, or eminence and the like, it is an evil end. Therefore he who from such an end believes himself to be his nearest neighbor, hurts himself to eternity.

But if the end be to procure wealth for the sake of the necessaries of life, for himself and family and dependents, that he may be in a state of doing good according to the precepts of the doctrine of charity, he provides for himself to eternity.

The end makes the man; for the end is the man's love, since every one has for an end that which he loves supremely. (A. C. 6934, '5.)

To know what produces a correspondence and agreement of the external man with the internal, and what causes disagreement, let a person only reflect upon the ruling cuds of his life, or, what is the same thing, upon his ruling loves. For a man's loves are his ends, since whatever is loved is regarded as au end.

It will thus be seen what the quality of his life is, and what it will be after death; for the life is formed by the ends which are regarded, or, what is the same thing, by the ruling loves. (A. C. 1568.)

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