264. What determines a spirit’s choice of the trials that it wants to endure?
“It chooses those which may help amend its faults, and at the same time help the spirit advance more quickly. With these goals in mind, some may impose a life of poverty and deprivation upon themselves to learn to bear them with courage. Others may wish to test their power to resist the temptations of fortune and power, which are much more dangerous because of the abuse they may entail, and the vile passions that they may develop. Others may want to strengthen their good resolutions by struggling against the infuence of vices.”
