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[7]Whether one in order or confusion lives, or whether one of the sweets of this life eats, which in the next the bitter must become,
[8]Or those who on the bitter live which in the next the sweet becomes; the law of compensation surely straightens out.
The wine of life is knowledge gained, on which no claims can Justice lay.
The leaves of life are useless works for which Justice decrees that righteous ones must be performed to balance life's account.
[7] The sweets of this life refers to the worldly pleasure, the sensuous enjoyments, which retard our spiritual progress here and for which we suffer in the next if we become a slave to them in this life.
[8] The bitter here refers to the virtuous, strenuous life, the life of denying, renouncing the so-called pleasures, the seeking to conquer our animal qualities.