All this world, when the hand of God weighs it, what weight has it? When the gaze of God embraces it, what extent has it? When he sees it, what does he think of it? And when he penetrates it, what does he find there? That is the question.

But this vapor was necessary to contain this breath within itself; this shadow, to surround the ray and give it a kind of case; these appearances, to give us merit or demerit through the employment of our affections and the good or bad use of our loves: what causes them does not matter, but what they are does matter.

On the question of the void. When one body displaces another, the latter yields its place and displaces another in turn, and so on successively. But the last body displaced, where does it withdraw? Into immateriality, or the region where it displaces nothing more. I used to say to myself, if one stretched out one’s arm at the edge of the material world, where would one’s hand be? In God. Ah! We are there: in him we live, are moved (moremur!) and are.

We are moved. Everything advances or draws back in his immaterial immensity, where everything is contained. And the edges of the world continually receive some new cutout.

October 24 (D. G.)

In chapter 2, after the verse “Truth... and virtue...” add:

Wisdom is repose in light. But it is light itself that, through the calm it inspires and brings, sometimes urges the wise man to play in its rays.

And, after this one, the verse: “There is nothing beautiful but God...”

And after the verse: “Touched and pressed by bodies...” and before: “The whole world...” this must be added:

I was right to say: “Matter is an appearance, everything is little and nothing is much. For what is the whole world?” I have thought about it. I believe it and almost see it. I make up my mind and shall say it boldly. For I have proofs of it without number ([instead of:] perhaps I shall prove it) and Newton thought so. I say it, then: The whole world, etc.

After the verse at the end: “O truth...” these words must be added: “I am going to prove” and end there.

And in the verse “Thus then...” of Chapter V, it must begin this way: “Thus then [we] do not love and we cannot all love, etc.”