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. – Saint Augustine
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. – Saint Augustine
Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart. – Saint Augustine
We are certainly in a common class with the beasts; every action of animal life is concerned with seeking bodily pleasure and avoiding pain. – 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. – Saint Augustine
O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams. – Saint Augustine
Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee. – Saint Augustine
Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others. – Saint Augustine
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. – Saint Augustine
Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty. – Saint Augustine
Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. – Saint Augustine
We cannot pass our guardian angel’s bounds, resigned or sullen, he will hear our sighs. – Saint Augustine
He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king. – Saint Augustine
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. – Saint Augustine
By faithfulness we are collected and wound up into unity within ourselves, whereas we had been scattered abroad in multiplicity. – Saint Augustine
The same thing which is now called Christian religion existed among the ancients. They have begun to call ‘Christian’ the true religion which existed before. – Saint Augustine
