198. It was shown above that man has no thought except from some affection of his life's love, and that thought is nothing but the form of affection. Since, then, man sees his thought, but cannot see his affection, for this he feels, it follows that it is from sight, which is in the appearance, that he concludes that one's own prudence does all things; and not from affection, which does not come into sight but into feeling. For affection only makes itself manifest through a certain delight of thought and pleasure of reasoning concerning it; and then this pleasure and delight make one with the thought in those who believe in ones own prudence from the love of self or from the love of the world; and thought flows on in its own delight like a ship in the current of a river, a current to which the captain pays no heed, attending only to the sails which he unfurls.
