St. Augustine Quotes

Any woman who does not give birth to as many children as she is capable is guilty of murder.

The fullest and best ears of corn hang lowest toward the ground.

I was looking for something to love, for I was in love with loving, and I hated security and a smooth way, free from snares.

The sole purpose of life is to gain merit for life in eternity.

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

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

Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.

For, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: 'And the angel that spoke in me, said to me...' He does not say, 'Spoke to me' but 'Spoke in me'.

Don't let your life give evidence against your tongue. Sing with your voices... sing also with your conduct.

The rich are like beasts of burden, carrying treasure all day, and at the night of death unladen; they carry to their grave only the bruises and marks of their toil.

There were no books in Eden, and there will be none in heaven

A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently.

We made bad use of immortality, and so ended up dying; Christ made good use of mortality, so that we might end up living.

Without God, man cannot, and without man, God will not.

Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.

The one who is good, is free even being a slave; the one who is bad remains a slave even being a king.

The sky and the earth and the waters and the things that are in them, the fishes, and the birds and the trees are not evil. All these are good; it is evil men who make this evil world.

The desire for fame tempts even noble minds.

The one who is our very Life descended into our world, and bore our death, and slew it with the abundance of His own life. Thundering, He called out to us to return to Him in heaven.

The Heavenly City outshines Rome beyond comparison. There, instead of victory, is truth; instead of high rank, holiness; instead of peace, felicity; instead of life, eternity.

A man may lose the good things of this life against his will; but if he loses the eternal blessings, he does so with his own consent.

It is love that asks, that seeks, that knocks, that finds, and that is faithful to what it finds.

Conscience and reputation are two things. Conscience is due to yourself, reputation to your neighbour.

A person can do other things against his will, but belief is possible only in one who is willing.

Law Number V: One-tenth of the participants produce over one-third of the output. Increasing the number of participants merely reduces the average output.

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.

The peace of the celestial city is the perfectly ordered and harmonious enjoyment of God, and of one another in God. (City of God, Book 19)

Grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.

God is more truly imagined than expressed, and He exists more truly than He is imagined.

Moral character is assessed not by what a man knows but by what he loves

To my God a heart of flame; To my fellow man a heart of love; To myself a heart of steel.

If today were half as good as tomorrow is supposed to be, it would probably be twice as good as yesterday was.

The law detects, grace alone conquers sin.

Decreased business base increases overhead. So does increased business base.

For every scientific (or engineering) action, there is an equal and opposite social reaction.

Fill yourselves first and then only will you be able to give to others.

The best way to make a silk purse from a sow's ear is to begin with a silk sow. The same is true of money.

The good man, though a slave, is free; the wicked, though he reigns, is a slave, and not the slave of a single man, but- what is worse - the slave of as many masters as he has vices.

The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, he gave his Son to Mary for the world to receive him from her.

Because a thing is eloquently expressed it should not be taken to be as necessarily true; nor because it is uttered with stammering lips should it be supposed false.

God is not greater if you reverence Him, but you are greater if you serve Him.

This awful catastrophe is not the end but the beginning. History does not end so. It is the way its chapters open.

You have enemies. For who can live on this earth without them? Take heed to yourselves: love them. In no way can your enemy so hurt you by his violence, as you hurt yourself if you love him not.

Carnal lust rules where there is no love of God.

If I am given a formula, and I am ignorant of its meaning, it cannot teach me anything, but if I already know it what does the formula teach me?

If the future and the past really exist, where are they?

Nobody should ever doubt that in the washing of rebirth (Titus 3:5) absolutely all sins, from the least to the greatest, are altogether forgiven.

What is grace? I know until you ask me; when you ask me, I do not know.

If stock market experts were so expert, they would be buying stock, not selling advice.

For what is time? ... Who can even in thought comprehend it, so as to utter a word about it? ... If no one asks me, I know: If I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not.