3159. 'And I will look to the right or to the left' means reciprocal freedom. This is clear without any explanation. The situation is that good from the Lord is constantly flowing in by way of the internal man into the external, and in earliest years takes shape in the external man as the affection for truth. To the extent a person looks to celestial and spiritual good as the end in view, truth is introduced and joined to good, or what amounts to the same, the affection for truth is introduced and joined to the affection for good. To the extent however that a person looks to his own good, and so to himself and the world, as the end in view, celestial and spiritual good depart. This is the reciprocal freedom which is meant by 'looking to the right or to the left'.

Intellectual things -- ideas, knowledge, facts, even insight and understanding -- are more separate and free-standing than emotional things, and it's easier to imagine numbering them as individual things. Our loves and affections tend to be more amorphous -- they can certainly be powerful, but would be harder to measure. Using words like “much,” “many,” myriad” and “multitude” to describe a collection of things gives the sense that there is an exact number, even if we don't know what it is and don't want to bother trying to count. These words, then, are used in the Bible in reference to intellectual things -- our thoughts, knowledge and concepts. Words that indicate largeness without the idea of number -- “great” is a common one -- generally refer to loves, affections and the desire for good. Here's one way to think about this: Say you want to take some food to a friend who just had a baby. That's a desire for good (assuming you're doing it from genuinely good motives). To actually do it, though, takes dozens of thoughts, ideas, facts and knowledges. What does she like to eat? What do you have to cook? What do you cook well? Can you keep it hot getting to her house? Is it nutritious? Does she have any allergies? So one good desire can bring a multitude of ideas into play.