Wisdom, Love, and the Four Temperaments
GA 266I — 31 May 1908, Hamburg
Esoteric Lesson
Record A
One must repeatedly let what one has heard in esoteric lessons pass before one's soul; only then will one gradually extract the forces hidden in what has been given. In this way, one learns to distinguish between thoughts that have a productive effect on the soul and those that merely reflect on what already exists and are therefore unproductive. When one looks at a clock, one can clearly imagine its construction in one's mind, including how the entire mechanism is set in motion and kept running; but these are unproductive thoughts. The person who first conceived the clock had productive thoughts—his work arose from this thought. All preoccupation with the sensory world, all thoughts about it, are unproductive. Most of our present-day science is unproductive thinking. But when we occupy ourselves with what is handed over to our thinking in esoteric lessons, we are occupied with productive thoughts, and that is a source of strength for our soul. Such thoughts must pass through our soul in the right order. Just as an organism could not exist if a leg were attached where an arm belongs, so too must everything in our thinking be logical. Let us place such a thought structure before our soul today.
There is much talk of wisdom. But wisdom is not what is often called wisdom in everyday life. People believe that those who know a lot are wise. However, having a lot of knowledge does not mean wisdom. Knowledge resides in minds that are full of other people's thoughts; Wisdom dwells in the heart that listens to its own: that is, not to the thoughts one forms about the outside world, but to the thoughts that arise from the spiritual world in silence.
Through much knowledge one gains cleverness. Wisdom is based on what one makes one's own through experience. Wisdom, however, is that which flows into us as a force from the spiritual worlds and then flows out again. Wisdom can flow from the simplest mind, “from the lips of children.” If what flows out comes more from feeling, it is wisdom, but if it inspires people to energy and action, if productivity prevails, it is love. But one must understand what love really is. Someone may feel pity for another's misfortune, but that is not true love. Pity only becomes love when one actively reaches out and helps. Wisdom and love make up the I. The I is love and wisdom that has become will. Thus we have 
Everything that the ego, that is, the true ego, not the reflection of the ego, does results from wisdom and love. This is the higher trinity. Reflected a little deeper, wisdom becomes feeling, love becomes will, and the ego becomes thinking.
In even lower regions, the four temperaments appear as reflections. First there is the choleric temperament. There are beings, angelic beings, who have no physical body. Among these angels are those who are always working, always creating. The angels have the different temperaments completely unmixed, while humans have composite temperaments. All four types affect humans, but only to varying degrees.
The first type of angels are those who instill the choleric temperament in humans. Such people are energetic and full of zest for action.
Then there are the sanguine angels. The temperament they instill in people makes them easily influenced by everything that is lofty and beautiful, without this always translating into action. Such people are not very energetic, but sensitive and easily enthusiastic; however, they do not stick with one thing for long.
Thirdly, there are the phlegmatic angels: People influenced by these angels have no interest in what others have created. They do not let things be, but constantly change them; they do everything in a fluid, indefinite manner. This is already expressed in the word phlegm; phlegm means mucus. People with a phlegmatic character have no particular interests. When they have to make a decision, they cannot do so. They always say: oh no, not that, and not the other either. They cannot make up their minds and always miss opportunities. This character is also expressed in the body, which is soft in form and everything is undefined. You can also recognize phlegmatic people by their gait; they walk swaying and softly. And yet such people can have a pronounced preference for certain pleasures, such as dishes, and they show this everywhere, i.e., they can be choleric.
Fourthly, melancholic angels: the people they influence see everything as gloomy and bleak, always expecting the worst. Such people work and brood over everything, they are only concerned with themselves and achieve nothing in terms of progress. They therefore have no joy in their work and become gloomy and bleak.
All characters must be judged from the point of view of what the individual creates for the progress of the whole. If we reflect on these characteristics even more deeply, the choleric corresponds to the element of fire; the sanguine to air; the phlegmatic to water; and the melancholic to earth – where everything becomes rigid and solid.
We must keep such figures before us again and again. They ensure that our soul organism is properly structured. We must think such figures through clearly. Our inner being cannot grow stronger by allowing our thoughts to swing back and forth. Bringing such forms before the mind's eye from time to time has an energizing effect on the soul.
Record B
Choleric: firm, determined, energetic; often stocky, squat, small in stature. - Napoleon was a pronounced choleric, but he also had other sides to him.
Sanguine: easily excited, quick to anger, not very energetic.
Phlegmatic: (phlegm: mucus); mucous, cold-blooded; has a dissolving power, does not like to stick together, does not cling to individual things. It is a quality that prevents petrification.
Melancholic: restrictive, brooding, relating everything to oneself; isolating, hardening.
In the spiritual world, there are beings who represent these four characters very sharply and unmixed. In humans, these character traits are mixed. Even in Napoleon, we can recognize other sides besides his basic choleric character.