A biography for Saint Augustinehasn’t been written yet.
“Oh Lord, give me chastity, but do not give it yet.”
“He who labours, prays.”
“We are certainly in a common class with the beasts; every action of animal life is concerned with seeking bodily pleasure and avoiding pain.”
“God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.”
“Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.”
“God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.”
“Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.”
“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”
“Hear the other side.”
“To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it.”
“Love, and do what you like.”
“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.”
“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.”
“Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.”
“The purpose of all wars, is peace.”
“In doing what we ought we deserve no praise, because it is our duty.”
“To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.”
“He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.”
“Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.”
“God is best known in not knowing him.”