and excess, in that it goes beyond the limits set by God and nature,
that it puts unjustly our interests before God's and the neighbor's,
and that to self it sacrifices them and all that pertains to them.
Self, the "ego," is the idol before which all must bow.

Self-love, on an evil day, in the garden of Eden, wedded sin, Satan
himself officiating under the disguise of a serpent; and she gave birth
to seven daughters like unto herself, who in turn became fruitful
mothers of iniquity. Haughty Pride, first-born and queen among her
sisters, is inordinate love of one's worth and excellence, talents and
beauty; sordid Avarice or Covetousness is excessive love of riches;
loathsome Lust is the third, and loves carnal pleasures without regard
for the law; fiery Anger, a counterpart of pride, is love rejected but
seeking blindly to remedy the loss; bestial Gluttony worships the
stomach; green-eyed Envy is hate for wealth and happiness denied;
finally Sloth loves bodily ease and comfort to excess. The infamous
brood! These parents of all iniquity are called the seven capital sins.
They assume the leadership of evil in the world and are the seven arms
of Satan.

As it becomes their dignity, these vices never walk alone or go
unattended, and that is the desperate feature of their malice. Each has
a cortege of passions, a whole train of inferior minions, that
accompany or follow. Once entrance gained and a free hand given, there
is no telling the result. Once seated and secure, the passion seeks to
satisfy itself; that is its business. Certain means are required to
this end, and these means can be procured only by sinning. Obstacles
often stand in the way and new sins furnish steps to vault over, or
implements to batter them down. Intricate and difficult conditions
frequently arise as the result of self-indulgence, out of which there