Whoever gives any
thought to man's life and speech and action can see that everyone has
exteriors and interiors, that is, exterior and interior thoughts and
intentions. This is shown by the fact that in civil life one thinks
about others in accordance with what he has heard and learned of them
by report or conversation; but he does not talk with them in
accordance with his thought; and if they are evil he nevertheless
treats them with civility. That this is so is seen especially in the
case of pretenders and flatterers, who speak and act in one way and
think and will in a wholly different way; also in the case of
hypocrites, who talk about God and heaven and the salvation of souls
and the truths of the church and their country's good and their
neighbor as if from faith and love, although in heart they believe
otherwise and love themselves alone. [2] All this makes clear that
there are two kinds of thought, one exterior and the other interior;
and that there are those who speak from exterior thought, while from
their interior thought they have other sentiments, and that these two
kinds of thought are kept separate, since the interior is carefully
prevented from flowing into the exterior and becoming manifest in any
way.
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