Omnes fere delectationes corporales faciunt sui ipsarum sitim, quousque consummentur, eo quod tales delectationes consequuntur aliquem motum: sicut patet in delectationibus ciborum.
Nearly all bodily delights cause thirst for [more of] themselves, until they are fully realized, because of the fact that delights of this kind arise from some movement: as is evident in the delights of food.
Si vero per sitim vel desiderium intelligatur sola intensio affectus, tollens fastidium, sic delectationes spirituales maxime faciunt sitim vel desiderium sui ipsarum. Delectationes enim corporales, quia augmentatae, vel etiam continuatae, faciunt superexcrescentiam naturalis habitudinis, efficiuntur fastidiosae; ut patet in delectatione ciborum. Et propter hoc, quando aliquis iam pervenit ad perfectum in delectationibus corporalibus, fastidit eas, et quandoque appetit aliquas alias.
On the other hand, if by thirst or desire we understand the mere intensity of the emotion, [the sort of emotion] that excludes distaste, thus, more than all others, spiritual delights cause thirst or desire for themselves. Because bodily delights, when they are increased or even when they are protracted, become distasteful by causing an excess in the natural state of affairs; as is evident in the case of the delights of food. This is why, when a man arrives at the point of perfection in bodily delights, he loses taste for them, and sometimes desires another kind.
Sed delectationes spirituales non superexcrescunt naturalem habitudinem, sed perficiunt naturam. Unde cum pervenitur ad consummationem in ipsis, tunc sunt magis delectabiles: nisi forte per accidens, inquantum operationi contemplativae adiunguntur aliquae operationes virtutum corporalium, quae per assiduitatem operandi lassantur.
Spiritual delights, on the contrary, do not exceed a natural state of affairs, but perfect nature. Hence when their point of perfection is reached, then do they afford the greatest delight: except, perchance, accidentally, insofar as the [spiritual] activity of contemplation is accompanied by some operation of the bodily powers, which tire from protracted activity.