110+ Saint Augustine Quotes to Enhance Your Spiritual Journey and Reflect on Life

Saint Augustine was a Roman philosopher and theologian who lived in the late 4th and early 5th centuries. He is known for his writings on the nature of God, free will, and the doctrine of original sin. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the development of Western Christianity and philosophy. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Saint Augustine on faith, friendship, death.

Top 10 Saint Augustine Quotes

1. Patience is the companion of wisdom.
2. Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
3. A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps.
4. Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
5. Because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
6. Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.
7. The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.
8. 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.
9. There is no love without hope, no hope without love, and neither hope nor love without faith.
10. To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.

Saint Augustine Image Quotes

Christ is not valued at all, unless he is valued above all. — Saint Augustine

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. — Saint Augustine

If you are silent, be silent out of love. If you speak, speak out of love. — Saint Augustine

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. — Saint Augustine

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery? — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Short Quotes

• There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.
• Christ is not valued at all, unless he is valued above all.
• The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
• If you are suffering from a bad man's injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men.
• To sing is to pray twice.
• In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
• Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.
• No one can begin a new life, unless he repent of the old.
• This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.
• Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.

Saint Augustine Quotes About Faith

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. — Saint Augustine

If you are silent, be silent out of love. If you speak, speak out of love. — Saint Augustine

Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. — Saint Augustine

What grace is meant to do is to help good people, not to escape their sufferings, but to bear them with a stout heart, with a fortitude that finds its strength in faith. — Saint Augustine

For what is faith unless it is to believe what you do not see? — Saint Augustine

We take for granted the slow miracle whereby water in the irrigation of a vineyard becomes wine. It is only when Christ turns water into wine, in a quick motion, as it were, that we stand amazed. — Saint Augustine

Love, and He will draw near; love, and He will dwell within you. — Saint Augustine

There can only be two basic loves... the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God. — Saint Augustine

He who loves the coming of the Lord is not he who affirms that it is far off, nor is it he who says it is near, but rather he who, whether it be far off or near, awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love. — Saint Augustine

The entire life of a good Christian is in fact an exercise of holy desire. You do not yet see what you long for, but the very act of desiring prepares you, so that when he comes you may see and be utterly satisfied. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Death

Moreover, from the time when He said, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven;' and again, 'He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it; ' no one becomes a member of Christ except it be either by baptism in Christ, or death for Christ. — Saint Augustine

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. — Saint Augustine

Why persist in walking difficult and toilsome paths? There is no repose where you are seeking it. Search as you like, it is not where you are looking. You are seeking a happy life in the realm of death, and it will not be found there. How could life be happy where there is no life at all? — Saint Augustine

Do you who are a Christian desire to be revenged and vindicated, and the death of Jesus Christ has not yet been revenged, nor His innocence vindicated? — Saint Augustine

We enjoy some gratification when our good friends die; for though their death leaves us in sorrow, we have the consolatory assurance that they are beyond the ills by which in this life even the best of people are broken down or corrupted. — Saint Augustine

The same divine authority that forbids the killing of a human being establishes certain exceptions, as when God authorizes killing by a general law or when He gives an explicit commission to an individual for a limited time. — Saint Augustine

Who else is it who calls us back from the death of error, except the life that does not know death, and the wisdom which, needing no light, enlightens minds which are in darkness, that wisdom by which the whole world, even to the leaves of trees drifting in the wind, is governed? — Saint Augustine

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. — Saint Augustine

They, then, who are destined to die, need not be careful to inquire what death they are to die, but into what place death will usher them. — Saint Augustine

Who would not shudder if he were given the choice of eternal death or life again as a child ? Who would not choose to die ? — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Prayer

If God seems slow in responding, it is because He is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for His greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart. — Saint Augustine

God does not give heed to the ambitiousness of our prayers, because he is always ready to give to us his light, not a visible light but an intellectual and spiritual one; but we are not always ready to receive it when we turn aside and down to other things out of a desire for temporal things. — Saint Augustine

God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination. — Saint Augustine

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. — Saint Augustine

He that loveth little prayeth little, he that loveth much prayeth much. — Saint Augustine

You don't love in your enemies what they are, but what you would have them become by your prayers. — Saint Augustine

Longing desire prayeth always, though the tongue be silent. If thou art ever longing, thou art ever praying. — Saint Augustine

What can be more excellent than prayer; what is more profitable to our life; what sweeter to our souls; what more sublime, in the course of our whole life, than the practice of prayer! — Saint Augustine

Within the Church, sins are forgiven in three ways: by baptism, by prayer, and by the greater humility of penance; yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized. — Saint Augustine

If faith fails, prayer perishes. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Love

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. That is what love looks like. — Saint Augustine

Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul. — Saint Augustine

Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop. — Saint Augustine

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. — Saint Augustine

Therefore once for all this short command is given to you. 'Love and do what you will.' If you keep silent, keep silent by love; if you speak, speak by love; if you correct, correct by love; if you pardon, pardon by love: let love be rooted in you, and from the root nothing but good can grow. — Saint Augustine

He who is filled with love is filled with God himself. — Saint Augustine

Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence. — Saint Augustine

Love is the beauty of the soul. — Saint Augustine

He that is jealous is not in love. — Saint Augustine

Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Humility

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. — 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

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. — Saint Augustine

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. — Saint Augustine

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

Humility must accompany all our actions, must be with us everywhere; for as soon as we glory in our good works they are of no further value to our advancement in virtue. — Saint Augustine

The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient. — Saint Augustine

No one reaches the kingdom of Heaven except by humility — Saint Augustine

Let your old age be childlike, and your childhood like old age; that is, so that neither may your wisdom be with pride, nor your humility without wisdom. — Saint Augustine

You cannot attain to charity except through humility. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Beauty

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. — Saint Augustine

Oh, beauty, ever ancient and ever new. — Saint Augustine

I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but I have never read in either of them: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. — Saint Augustine

Just think of the illimitable abundance and the marvelous loveliness of light, or of the beauty of the sun and moon and stars. — Saint Augustine

The entire most beautiful order of things that are very good, when their measures have been accomplished, is to pass away. — Saint Augustine

I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new! — Saint Augustine

Beauty grows in you to the extent that love grows, because charity itself is the soul's beauty. — Saint Augustine

Too late came I to love you, O Beauty both so ancient and so new! Too late came I to love you - and behold you were with me all the time . . . — Saint Augustine

This entire most beautiful order of good things is going to pass away after its measure has been exhausted; for both morning and evening were made in them. — Saint Augustine

Beauty is the brilliance of truth. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About God

Remember this. When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold. When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness. This is also the case when people withdraw from God. — Saint Augustine

God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them. — Saint Augustine

All truth and understanding is a result of a divine light which is God Himself. — Saint Augustine

He who denies the existence of God, has some reason for wishing that God did not exist. — Saint Augustine

God provides the wind, Man must raise the sail. — 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

Since God is the highest good, he would not allow any evil to exist in his works unless his omnipotence and goodness were such as to bring good even out of evil. — Saint Augustine

I once laboured hard for the free will of man, until the grace of God at length overcame me. — Saint Augustine

We count on God's mercy for our past mistakes, on God's love for our present needs, on God's sovereignty for our future. — Saint Augustine

And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete, seeing He saith this of the Holy Spirit, Whom except we have, we can neither love God, nor keep His commandments? — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Education

The good Christian should beware the mathematician and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of hell. — Saint Augustine

I learned most, not from those who taught me but from those who talked with me. — Saint Augustine

Education is the food of youth, the delight of old age, the ornament of prosperity, the refuge and comfort of adversity, and the provocation to grace in the soul. — Saint Augustine

It is not often that we use language correctly; usually we use it incorrectly, though we understand each others meaning. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Truth

True happiness is to rejoice in the truth, for to rejoice in the truth is to rejoice in You, O God, who are the truth... Those who think that there is another kind of happiness look for joy elsewhere, but theirs is not true joy. — Saint Augustine

One can't reach the Truth but through Love. — Saint Augustine

Chastity, or cleanness of heart, holds a glorious and distinguished place among the virtues, because she, alone, enables man to see God; hence Truth itself said, 'Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.' — Saint Augustine

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

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. — Saint Augustine

The soul is "torn apart in a painful condition as long as it prefers the eternal because of its Truth but does not discard the temporal because of familiarity. — Saint Augustine

Truth is not private property. — Saint Augustine

Thus the good christian should beware of mathematicians and all those who make false prophecies, however much they may in fact speak the truth; lest, being in league with the devil, they may deceive errant souls into making common cause. — Saint Augustine

When regard for truth has been broken down or even slightly weakened, all things will remain doubtful. — Saint Augustine

It is better that the truth be known than that scandal be covered up. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Reason

Passion is the evil in adultery. If a man has no opportunity of living with another man's wife, but if it is obvious for some reason that he would like to do so, and would do so if he could, he is no less guilty than if he was caught in the act. — Saint Augustine

When all is said and done, is there any more wonderful sight, any moment when man's reason is nearer to some sort of contact with the nature of the world than the sowing of seeds, the planting of cuttings, the transplanting of shrubs or the grafting of slips? — Saint Augustine

Heaven forbid that we should believe in such a way as not to accept or seek reasons, since we could not even believe if we did not possess rational souls. — Saint Augustine

God does not expect us to submit our faith to him without reason, but the very limits of our reason make faith a necessity. — Saint Augustine

Love has reasons that reason knows not. — Saint Augustine

The mere change of custom, even though it may be of advantage in some respects, unsettles men by reason of the novelty: therefore, if it brings no advantage, it does much harm by unprofitably disturbing the Church. — Saint Augustine

We are too weak to discover the truth by reason alone — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Evil

What is reprehensible is that while leading good lives themselves and abhorring those of wicked men, some, fearing to offend, shut their eyes to evil deeds instead of condemning them and pointing out their malice. — Saint Augustine

The greatest evil is physical pain. — Saint Augustine

The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works. — Saint Augustine

God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist. — 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

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. — Saint Augustine

Carnal lust rules where there is no love of God. — Saint Augustine

God Almighty would in no way permit evil in His works were He not so omnipotent and good that even out of evil He could work good. — Saint Augustine

Other sins find their vent in the accomplishment of evil deeds, whereas pride lies in wait for good deeds, to destroy them. — Saint Augustine

It is salutary for us to learn to hold cheap such things, be they good or evil, as attach indifferently to good men and bad, and to covet those good things which belong only to good men, and flee those evils which belong only to evil men. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Soul

Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity. — Saint Augustine

Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence. — Saint Augustine

Unhappy is the soul enslaved by the love of anything that is mortal. — 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

Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved. — Saint Augustine

If you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon. — Saint Augustine

Oh, God, to know you is life. To serve You is freedom. To praise you is the soul's joy and delight. Guard me with the power of Your grace here and in all places. Now and at all times, forever. Amen. — Saint Augustine

I was in misery, and misery is the state of every soul overcome by friendship with mortal things and lacerated when they are lost. Then the soul becomes aware of the misery which is its actual condition even before it loses them. — Saint Augustine

AugustineThe wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy. To love with sternness is better than to deceive with gentleness.... In Luke [14:23] it is written: "Compel people to come in!" By threats of the wrath of God, the Father draws souls to his Son. — Saint Augustine

The measure of charity may be taken from the want of desires. As desires diminish in the soul, charity increases in it; and when it no longer feels any desire, then it possesses perfect charity. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Quotes About Thou

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

I acknowledge Thee, Lord of heaven and earth, and praise Thee for my first rudiments of being, and my infancy, whereof I remember nothing; for Thou hast appointed that man should from others guess much as to himself; and believe much on the strength of weak females. — Saint Augustine

Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee. — Saint Augustine

Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe, that thou mayest understand. — Saint Augustine

Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt. — Saint Augustine

Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee; for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee. — Saint Augustine

What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor. — Saint Augustine

Hear, O God. Alas, for man's sin! So saith man, and Thou pitiest him; for Thou madest him, but sin is in him Thou madest not. Who remindeth me of the sins of my infancy? for in Thy sight none is pure from sin, not even the infant whose life is but a day upon the earth. — Saint Augustine

Lord, thou madest us for thyself, and we can find no rest till we find rest in thee. — Saint Augustine

Be always displeased at what thou art, if thou desirest to attain to what thou art not. — Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine Famous Quotes And Sayings

Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure: where your treasure, there your heart; where your heart, there your happiness — Saint Augustine

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. — Saint Augustine

If you are silent, be silent out of love. If you speak, speak out of love. — Saint Augustine

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. — 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

Every morning you put on your clothes to cover your nakedness and protect your body from inclement weather. Why don't you also clothe your soul with the garment of faith? Remember each morning the truths of your creed, and look at yourself in the mirror of your faith. Otherwise, your soul will soon be naked with the nakedness of oblivion. — Saint Augustine

Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it. — Saint Augustine

Recognize in this bread what hung on the cross, and in this chalice what flowed from His side... whatever was in many and varied ways announced beforehand in the sacrifices of the Old Testament pertains to this one sacrifice which is revealed in the New Testament. — Saint Augustine

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery? — Saint Augustine

That your enemies have been created is God's doing; that they hate you and wish to ruin you is their own doing. What should you say about them in your mind? "Lord be merciful to them, forgive them their sins, put the fear of God in them, change them!" You are loving in them not what they are, but what you would have them to become. — 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

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. — Saint Augustine

Trials and tribulations offer us a chance to make reparation for our past faults and sins. On such occasions the Lord comes to us like a physician to heal the wounds left by our sins. Tribulation is the divine medicine. — Saint Augustine

Don't you believe that there is in man a deep so profound as to be hidden even to him in whom it is? — Saint Augustine

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. — Saint Augustine

"Otherwise grace is no more grace," since it is bestowed on us, not because we have done good works, but that we may be able to do them. — Saint Augustine

It is no advantage to be near the light if the eyes are closed. — Saint Augustine

Suppress prostitution, and capricious lusts will overthrow society. — Saint Augustine

There is nothing more serious than the sacrilege of schism because there is no just cause for severing the unity of the Church. — Saint Augustine

Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that? — Saint Augustine

Let us sing a new song, not with our lips, but with our lives. — Saint Augustine

The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home. — Saint Augustine

The cost of obedience is small compared with the cost of disobedience. — Saint Augustine

The Old (Testament) is in the New (Testament) revealed, the New is in the Old concealed. — Saint Augustine

The measure of love is to love without measuring. — Saint Augustine

If you would attain to what you are not yet, you must always be displeased by what you are. For where you are pleased with yourself there you have remained. Keep adding, keep walking, keep advancing. — Saint Augustine

Your persistent longing is your persistent voice. But when love grows cold, the heart grows silent. Burning love is the outcry of the heart! If you are filled with longing all the time, you will keep crying out, and if your love perseveres, your cry will be heard without fail. — Saint Augustine

Yet we must say something when those who say the most are saying nothing. — Saint Augustine

O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet. — Saint Augustine

Symbols are powerful because they are the visible signs of invisible realities. — Saint Augustine

Angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent. For the name angel refers to their office, not their nature. You ask the name of this nature, it is spirit; you ask its office, it is that of an Angel, which is a messenger. — Saint Augustine

Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. — Saint Augustine

There are wolves within, and there are sheep without. — Saint Augustine

Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again. — Saint Augustine

Give her two red roses, each with a note. The first note says For the woman I love and the second, For my best friend. — Saint Augustine

Two works of mercy set a person free: Forgive and you will be forgiven, and give and you will receive. — Saint Augustine

To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. — Saint Augustine

He was created of a mother whom He created. He was carried by hands that He formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy. He, the Word, without whom all human eloquence is mute. — Saint Augustine

Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch or weep tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O Lord Jesus Christ; rest your weary ones; bless your dying ones; soothe your suffering ones; pity your afflicted ones; shield your joyous ones; and all for your love's sake. Amen. — Saint Augustine

Temperance is a disposition that restrains our desires for things which it is base to desire. — Saint Augustine

He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent. — Saint Augustine

Punishment is justice for the unjust. — Saint Augustine

God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. — Saint Augustine

Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible. — Saint Augustine

Venerate the martyrs, praise, love, proclaim, honor them. But worship the God of the martyrs. — Saint Augustine

Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped. — Saint Augustine

It seems to me that an unjust law is no law at all. — Saint Augustine

What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know. — Saint Augustine

Man has been naturally so created that it is advantageous for him to be submissive, but disastrous for him to follow his own will, and not the will of his creator. — Saint Augustine

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity. — Saint Augustine

Life Lessons by Saint Augustine

1. Saint Augustine taught that the purpose of life is to seek a deeper understanding of God and to live in accordance with His will.
2. He also emphasized the importance of self-reflection and understanding one's own motivations.
3. Finally, he encouraged people to strive for virtue, wisdom, and humility in order to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life.