Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine
Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, Saint Austin, Blessed Augustine, and the Doctor of Grace, was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia. He is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions...
ProfessionSaint
hands always-trying giving
God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.
time trying baffled
Quid est ergo tempus? Si nemo ex me quaerat, scio; si quaerenti explicare velim, nescio. What, then, is time? I know well enough what it is, provided that nobodyasksme; but if Iamasked what it is and try to explain, I am baffled.
brother believe trying
Try to acquire the virtues you believe lacking in your brothers. Then you will no longer see their defects, for you will no longer have them yourself.
marvel pass people rivers themselves travel
People travel to marvel at the mountains, seas, rivers and stars; and they pass right by themselves without astonishment.
loved
Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.
abroad admiration admire circuits compass heights men mighty themselves tides
Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.
cauldron ears sang
To Carthage I came, where there sang all around my ears a cauldron of unholy loves.
aspire begin great
You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones.
good
If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times.
Oh Lord, give me chastity, but do not give it yet.
abstinence easier
To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.
believe faith reward
Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.
despairing god knowledge man senseless suffer understanding
God will not suffer man to have a knowledge of things to come; for if he had prescience of his prosperity, he would be careless; and if understanding of his adversity, he would be despairing and senseless
ladder trample vices
We make a ladder of our vices, if we trample those same vices underfoot.