'There is no doubt that, if man could perceive the many
difficulties thrown by self-love in the way of his own good, he would
no longer allow himself to be deceived by it; and its malignity is the
more to be dreaded because it is so powerful that were but one grain of
it in the world would be sufficient to corrupt all mankind. Wherefore I
conclude that self-love is the root of all evils which exist in this
world and in the other. Behold Lucifer, whose present state is the
result of following the suggestions of his self-love; and in ourselves
it seems to me even worse. Our father Adam has so contaminated us that
to my eyes the evil appears almost incurable, for it so penetrates our
veins, our nerves, our bones, that we can neither say nor think nor do
anything which is not full of the poison of this love - not even those
thoughts and deeds which are directed toward the purification of the
spirit.'
