All commotions of the soul are some kind of movement of the soul, either from lack of reason, or from contempt or disobedience to reason; and this movement of the soul is excited in two ways, either by good thoughts or by evil thoughts; thus we have four kinds of commotions equally divided.
There are two kinds of actions from the thought of good: one is excessive pleasure, that is, pleasure beyond the limit due to some great thought of good; the other is the uncontrolled expectation of a presumed great good, which is disobedience to reason and can be rightly defined as lust or covetousness. Thus, excessive pleasure and covetousness, two types of disturbances from good thoughts, harass the soul, just as the rest of fear and distress, two types of disturbances from evil thoughts, do.
The opposite of such virtue is malice; through malice the soul produces confused commotion, as we said earlier, commotion that deviates from reason, contrary to the tranquil and peaceful life of the mind.
For malice introduces anxiety and severe distress, which oppress the soul and make it fearful; malice also kindles ardent expectations, which we call at one time lust, and at another lust, and which make the soul incapable of moderation and self-control. Once the soul has determined the goal of its desires, it is so distracted that it does what it wants, “without any more rules”, as the poet says “The excessive pleasure of the soul is total folly. “The cure for such malice can only be found in virtue.
Virtue is a placid temperament of the soul, which gives it praiseworthy qualities and makes it worthy of praise according to its own nature, and from virtue comes not expediency, but good inclinations, opinions, actions, and right reason, although virtue itself can be well summed up as right reason.
If we wish to pass our destined life in peace and tranquility, we must do all we can to resist the tumult which, like evil spirits, foolishly emanates and launches itself against human life.
We must first consider what the proverbial death itself really is. Some believe that death is the separation of the soul from the body; others believe that there is no such separation, but that the soul and the body perish together and are destroyed together. Among those who believe that there is a separation of the soul, some believe that the soul dissipates in the air as soon as it leaves the body, some believe that the soul will remain for a long time, and some believe that it will last forever.
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