1 - (T) The instinct of self-preservation is a law of nature. The Spirits' Book; 702 "It is given to all living creatures, whatever their degree of intelligence; in some it is purely mechanical, in others it is allied to reason.”

         2 - (T) God has given the instinct of self-preservation to all living beings to the working out of the providential plans. The Spirits' Book; 703 "They are all necessary to the working out of the providential plans; and therefore God has given them the desire to live. And besides, life is a necessary condition of the improvement of beings; they feel this instinctively, without understanding it."

         3 - (F) Life is not a necessary condition of the improvement of beings. The Spirits' Book; 703

         4 - (T) God always furnished man with the means of living. The Spirits' Book; 705 "It is because man ungratefully neglects that excellent nursing-mother! Moreover, he often accuses nature of what is the result of his own unskilfulness or want of forethought. The earth would always produce the necessaries of life, if men could content them-selves therewith. If it does not suffice for all his wants, it is because men employ, in superfluities, what should be devoted to the supply of necessaries. Look at the Arab in the desert; he always finds enough to live upon, because he does not create for himself factitious needs; but when half the products of the earth are wasted in satisfying fanciful desires, ought man to be astonished if he afterwards runs short, and has he any reason to complain if he finds himself unprovided for when a famine occurs? I repeat it; nature is not improvident, but man does not know how to regulate his use of her gifts."

         5 - (T) Earth always produce the necessaries of life, if men could content themselves therewith. The Spirits' Book; 707 “If civilisation multiplies our needs, it also multiplies our resources and our means of existence. But it must be admitted that, in this respect much still remains to be done; for civilisation will only have accomplished its task when it shall no longer be possible for any human being to lack the necessaries of life, unless through his own fault. Unfortunately, too, many persons choose a path for which nature has not fitted them, and in which they necessarily fail of success. There is room in the sunshine for every one; but on condition that each takes his own place, and not that of another. Nature cannot justly be held responsible for the results of defective social organisation, nor for those of personal selfishness and ambition.”

         6 - (T) The privation of the barest necessaries of life is a trial he would have to undergo. The Spirits' Book; 708 "Such a position is a trial which, however severe, the party who is subjected to it knew, in the spirit-state that he would have to undergo. His merit will result from his submission to the will of God, if his intelligence does not furnish him with the means of freeing himself from his troubles. If death supervenes, he should meet it without a murmur, remembering that the hour of his deliverance is approaching, and that any yielding to despair at the last moment may cause him to lose the fruit of his previous resignation."

         7 - (F) In worlds in which the corporeal organisation of living beings is of a purer nature than in the earth, these don’t need food. The Spirits' Book; 710 "Yes, they do; but their food is in keeping with their nature. Their aliments would not be substantial enough for your gross stomachs and, on the other hand, those beings could not digest your heavier food."

         8 - (T) Material things excite man to live and to accomplish his mission. The Spirits' Book; 712

         9 - (T) It is a test for man to enjoy material things without excesses. This is a test for the incarnate spirits. The Spirits' Book; 712 and 712-a

         10 - (T) Illnesses, difficulties and premature death are a result of the abuses in regards to the use of material belongings. The Spirits' Book; 712, commentary. "The aim of temptation is to develop his reason, that it may preserve him from excesses."

         11 - (F) It’s not possible to know the limit of what is necessary. The Spirits' Book; 715. "Wise men know it by intuition; others learn it through experience, and to their cost."

         12 - (T) There is no absolute boundary-line between the necessary and the superfluous. The Spirits' Book; 717. There is no absolute boundary-line between the necessary and the superfluous. “Civilisation has created necessities that do not exist for the savage and the spirits who have dictated the foregoing precepts do not mean to assert that civilised men should live like the savage. All things are relative; and the function of reason is to determine the part to be allotted to each. Civilisation develops the moral sense, and, at the same time, the sentiment of charity, which leads men to give to each other mutual support. Those who live at the expense of other men's privations monopolise the benefits of civilisation for their own profit they have only the varnish of civilisation, as others have only the mask of religion.”

         13 - (F) It is blameable in a man to seek after the comforts and enjoyments of corporeal life. The Spirits' Book; 719 “The desire of corporeal well-being is natural to man. God only prohibits excess, because excess is inimical to preservation; He has not made it a crime to seek after enjoyment, if that enjoyment be not acquired at another's expense, and if it be riot of a nature to weaken either your moral or your physical strength."

         14 - (T) The enjoyment should not be acquired at another's expense. The Spirits' Book; 719

         15 - (T) The human being should avoid the excess of corporeal well-being, valuing the virtues taught by Jesus. The Spirits' Book; 719 "What is meritorious is resistance to the temptation that solicits to excess or to indulgence in what is useless; it is the cutting down even of your necessaries, that you may have more to give to those who are in want. If your privations are only a vain pretence, they are a mere mockery."

         16 - (T) Voluntary privations, in view of a voluntary expiation, are meritorious in the sight of God. The Spirits' Book; 720 "Do good to others, and you will thereby acquire more merit than is to be acquired by any self-imposed privations."

         17 - (T) Whatever man can eat without injury to his health is permitted to him. The Spirits' Book; 722 "Whatever man can eat without injury to his health is permitted to him. Legislators may have prohibited certain aliments for some useful end, and, in order to give greater weight to their prohibitions, have represented them as emanating from God."

         18 - (T) God cannot regard as meritorious any abstinence that does not impose a real privation, and that has not a serious and useful aim. The Spirits' Book; 724 "Yes, if undergone for the sake of others; but God cannot regard as meritorious any abstinence that does not impose a real privation, and that has not a serious and useful aim. This is why we say that those whose fasting is only apparent are hypocrites."

         19 - (T) When your voluntary sufferings are undergone only for yourselves, they are mere selfishness; when you suffer for others, you obey the law of charity. Such are the precepts of Christ. The Spirits' Book; 726 "The only sufferings that can elevate you are those which come upon you naturally, because they are inflicted by God. Voluntary sufferings count for nothing when they are not useful to others. Do you suppose that those who shorten their lives by superhuman hardships, like the bonzes, fakirs, and fanatics of various sects, advance their progress thereby? Why do they not rather labour for the good of their fellow-creatures? Let them clothe the naked; let them comfort those who mourn; let them work for the infirm; let them impose privations upon themselves for the sake of the unfortunate and the needy; and their life will be useful, and pleasing to God. When your voluntary sufferings are undergone only for yourselves, they are mere selfishness; when you suffer for others, you obey the law of charity. Such are the precepts of Christ."

         20 - (F) The instinct of self-preservation has not been given to all beings to guard them against dangers and sufferings. The Spirits' Book; 727 "The instinct of self-preservation has been given to all beings to guard them against dangers and sufferings. Flagellate your spirit, and not your body; mortify your pride; stifle the selfishness that eats into the heart like a devouring worm; and you will do more for your advancement than you could do by any amount of macerations out of keeping with the age in which you are living."