Saint Augustine, a profound theologian and philosopher of the Roman Empire, left a lasting legacy through his insightful quotes. His famous saying, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe,” captures the essence of his spiritual teachings. Augustine’s reflections on time resonate in his timeless quote, “What then is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I want to explain it to someone who asks, I do not know.” Known for exploring the complexities of human nature, his quote, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you,” reflects his deep spiritual philosophy. Augustine’s wisdom continues to inspire and influence Christian theology and philosophical discourse.
Saint Augustine quotes
Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
Patience is the companion of wisdom.
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.
Love, and do what you will.
Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.
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.
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.
You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.
The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.
The greatest evil is physical pain.
God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.
He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.
It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.
The measure of love is to love without measure.
Our bodies are shaped to bear children, and our lives are a working out of the processes of creation. All our ambitions and intelligence are beside that great elemental point.
Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.
God does not command impossibilities, but by commanding admonishes you do what you can and to pray for what you cannot, and aids you that you may be able.
To wisdom belongs the intellectual apprehension of things eternal; to knowledge, the rational apprehension of things temporal.
What you are must always displease you if you would attain to that which you are not.
For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.
God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand. If you understand, you have failed.
Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.
He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.
Love is the beauty of the soul.
It is no advantage to be near the light if the eyes are closed.
The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.
Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume; one of the thieves was damned.
Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.
It is no use going to the ass’s house to look for a horse.
Bad times, hard times – this is what people keep saying. But let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.
The purpose of all wars, is peace.
God does not want to do everything by Himself, because He has made us free. When He does everything, it is not because He needs us, but because He wants to give us a share in His glory.
He who is filled with love is filled with God himself.
God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
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 soul is healed by being with children.
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.
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.
God has no need of your money, but the poor have. You give it to the poor, and God receives it.
God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves.
You are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. Once you understand that, what remains but to rejoice?
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.
For it was not the mere form of the cross that he [Jesus] blessed, but the salvation which was accomplished by means of it.
You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones.
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.
For as the same fire causes gold to glow brightly and chaff to smoke; and under the same flail the straw is beaten small, while the grain is cleansed; and as the lees are not mixed with the oil, though squeezed out of the vat by the same pressure, so the same violence of affliction proves, purges, clarifies the good, but damns, ruins, exterminates the wicked.
God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
Our body is mortal, but our soul is immortal. When we become Christians, the Lord gives us the hope of eternal life.
Let us understand that God is a physician, and that suffering is a medicine for salvation, not a punishment for damnation.
This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.
Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.
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.
Daily advance, then, in this love, both by praying and by well-doing, that through the help of Him who enjoined it, and whose gift it is, it may be nourished and increased, until, being perfected, it render you perfect.
He who does not see himself, sees nothing. He who does not hear himself, hears nothing.
This very moment I may, if I desire, become the friend of God.
He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.
Sin is the only evil; it is the poison of the soul, the life of hell, the death of the spirit. It is the enemy of God.
And men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.
The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.
True wisdom is not gained by asking questions. It is inspired.
Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.
The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy.
Sinning is falling away from the divine good, nothing else.
He that loveth little prayeth little; he that loveth much prayeth much.
Time does not take away but adds to the number of a good man’s blessings.
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.
Bad times, hard times – this is what people keep saying. But let us live well, and times shall be good.
When we praise God, we praise not only God but ourselves, because we who were nothing have received from Him the power to do what pleases Him.
