316 316 Quotes

Augustine of Hippo

354 to 430

Augustine was a bishop in Roman North Africa and one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the church. As a young man he was a brilliant teacher of rhetoric who chased success and pleasure and ran from God for years, while his mother Monica prayed for him without ceasing. Under the preaching of Ambrose in Milan he finally came home to Christ. His Confessions, written as one long prayer, still reads as though he were sitting beside you.

Quotes with a reflection

Selected sayings

A few more lines from Augustine of Hippo, gathered as encouragement, each with a note on where it comes from or what it means.

  • “Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new; late have I loved you.”

    From the Confessions, his ache at how long it took him to come home to God.

    Augustine of Hippo

  • “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.”

    Augustine on what faith is, and where it finally leads.

    Augustine of Hippo