4223. It was perceived that the angels care for nothing else with man than his ends; if his end is self and the world, they then oppose it, and remove it, as far as can be done, and turn it into an end of good, in which case they are greatly delighted. So far as an end of good prevails, so far they are present, and so far as an end of evil prevails, so far are they absent or remote. Still they are prompted by the Lord to withhold man from precipitating himself into the greatest evils, which they do by means of external bonds that excite and influence him, and which at length become familiar with him. - 1749, April 15.