Quotes By Saint Augustine

My mind withdrew its thoughts from experience, extracting itself from the contradictory throng of sensuous images, that it might find out what that light was wherein it was bathed... And thus, with the flash of one hurried glance, it attained to the vision of That Which Is.

Punishment is justice for the unjust.

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

No eulogy is due to him who simply does his duty and nothing more.

God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.

It is not the punishment but the cause that makes the martyr.

Don't you believe that there is in man a deep so profound as to be hidden even to him in whom it is?

This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?

Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.

If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times.

There is something in humility which strangely exalts the heart.

By faithfulness we are collected and wound up into unity within ourselves, whereas we had been scattered abroad in multiplicity.

Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.

The purpose of all wars, is peace.

What I needed most was to love and to be loved, eager to be caught. Happily I wrapped those painful bonds around me; and sure enough, I would be lashed with the red-hot pokers or jealousy, by suspicions and fear, by burst of anger and quarrels.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.

Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.

The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.

The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it.

Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider.

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.

We make ourselves a ladder out of our vices if we trample the vices themselves underfoot.