Augustine of Hippo Quotes on Knowledge
Augustine of Hippo was a Roman-African theologian and philosopher whose work shaped Western Christianity and Latin philosophy for the next millennium. This page collects quotes attributed to Augustine of Hippo on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Augustine of Hippo:
“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”
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“What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks me, I do not know.”
Quid est ergo tempus? Si nemo ex me quaerat, scio; si quaerenti explicare velim, nescio. -
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
Patientia comes est sapientiae -
“Augustine, Augustine, quid quaeris? Putasne brevi immettere vasculo mare totum?”
Augustinus, Augustinus, what are you trying to do? Do you believe to be able to pour the whole sea in a little jar? As quoted in the letter of Augustine to saint Cyril of Jerusalem related to the treaty titled On the Trinity -
“Augustinus, Augustinus, what are you trying to do? Do you believe to be able to pour the whole sea in a little jar? As quoted in the letter of Augustine to saint Cyril of Jerusalem related to the treaty titled On the Trinity”
Augustine, Augustine, quid quaeris? Putasne brevi immettere vasculo mare totum? -
“Noli foras ire, in teipsum redi, in interiore homine habitat veritas. Et si tuam naturam mutabilem inveneris, trascende et teipsum .”
Do not go outside yourself, return to yourself: truth dwells in the interiority of man and, if you find that your nature is changeable, transcend yourself too . As quoted in De vera religione , XXXIX, 72 -
“Nowhere in the Gospel do we read that the Lord said: "I am sending you a Paraclete who will teach you about the course of the sun and moon ." For He wanted to make Christians , not mathematicians .”
De actis cum Felice Manicheo {AD 404), translated as A Debate with Felix the Manichean , ¶1709, in The Faith of the Early Fathers Vol 3 : St. Augustine to the End of the Patristic Age by W.A. Jurgens, p. 88 | Variant translations: | One does not read in the Gospel that the Lord said: "I will send you the Paraclete who will teach you about the course of the sun and moon." For He willed to make them -
“The superfluities of the rich are the necessaries of the poor. They who possess superfluities, possess the goods of others.”
Patrologia Latina , vol. 37, p. 1922 -
“Patrologia Latina , vol. 37, p. 1922”
The superfluities of the rich are the necessaries of the poor. They who possess superfluities, possess the goods of others. -
“Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum.”
Love the sinner and hate the sin . Opera Omnia , Vol II. Col. 962, letter 211 | Alternate translation: With love for mankind and hatred of sins (vices).