Quotessence
Home / Authors / Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllChristianityDiosGodTeologíaAugustineFilosofíaSinAugustine Of HippoBeautyEvilReligionFaithGoodCatholicismCorazónCreationLoveMoralityMuertePeace

Famous Augustine of Hippo Quotes

“In this universe, even what is called evil, when it is rightly ordered and kept in its place, commends the good more eminently, since good things yield greater pleasure and praise when compared to the bad things. For the Omnipotent God, whom even the heathen acknowledge as the Supreme Power over all, would not allow any evil in his works, unless in his omnipotence and goodness, as the Supreme Good, he is able to bring forth good out of evil. What, after all, is anything we call evil except the privation of good? In animal bodies, for instance, sickness and wounds are nothing but the privation of health. When a cure is effected, the evils which were present (i.e., the sickness and the wounds) do not retreat and go elsewhere. Rather, they simply do not exist any more. For such evil is not a substance; the wound or the disease is a defect of the bodily substance which, as a substance, is good. Evil, then, is an accident, i.e., a privation of that good which is called health. Thus, whatever defects there are in a soul are privations of a natural good. When a cure takes place, they are not transferred elsewhere but, since they are no longer present in the state of health, they no longer exist at all.”

GodEvilGood
Book:The Augustine Catechism: The Enchiridon on Faith, Hope, and Love
Create image

“And what is this? I asked the earth, and it answered me, “I am not He”; and whatsoever are in it confessed the same. I asked the sea and the deeps, and the living creeping things, and they answered, “We are not thy God, seek above us.” I asked the moving air; and the whole air with his inhabitants answered, “Anaximenes was deceived, I am not God. “ I asked the heavens, sun, moon, stars, “Nor (say they) are we the God whom thou seekest.” And I replied unto all the things which encompass the door of my flesh: “Ye have told me of my God, that ye are not He; tell me something of Him.” And they cried out with a loud voice, “He made us. “ My questioning them, was my thoughts on them: and their form of beauty gave the answer.”

GodJoyBeautyChristianityCreation
Book:Confessions
Create image

“Beautiful is God, the Word with God. He is beautiful in Heaven, beautiful on earth; beautiful in the womb; beautiful in His parents’ arms, beautiful in His miracles, beautiful in His sufferings; beautiful in inviting life, beautiful in not worrying about death, beautiful in giving His life, beautiful in taking it up again; He is beautiful on the cross, beautiful in the tomb, beautiful in Heaven. Listen to the song with understanding, and let not the weakness of the flesh distract your eyes from the splendour of His beauty.”

GodBeauty
Author:Augustine of Hippo
Create image

“Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God: for without him we can do nothing.”

GodChristianityGracePrevenient Grace
Author:Augustine of Hippo
Create image

“Whatever marvel happens in this world, it is certainly less marvellous than this whole world itself — I mean the sky and earth, and all that is in them — and these God certainly made. But, as the Creator Himself is hidden and incomprehensible to man, so also is the manner of creation. Although, therefore, the standing miracle of this visible world is little thought of, because always before us, yet, when we arouse ourselves to contemplate it, it is a greater miracle than the rarest and most unheard-of marvels.”

GodReligionBeautyCreationCatholicismChurch Fathers
Book:City of God
Create image