"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."

Rating:

  rate this quote
Topic: none  help us select a topic for this quote

More quotes from: Saint Augustine

• "A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently. "
• "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think ..."
• "By faithfulness we are collected and wound up into unity within ourselves, whereas we had ..."
• "Charity is no substitute for justice withheld. "
• "Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. "
• "Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct ..."
• "Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce ..."
• "Don't you believe that there is in man a deep so profound as to be ..."
• "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is ..."
• "Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; ..."
• "For, were it not good that evil things should also exist, the omnipotent God would ..."
• "Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been ..."
• "Give me chastity and continence, but not yet. "
• "God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. "
• "God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil ..."
• "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. "
• "Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt. "
• "He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil ..."
• "Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which ..."
• "I asked the whole frame of the world about my God; and he answered,'' I ..."
• "I found thee not, O Lord, without, because I erred in seeking thee without that ..."
• "I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new! "
• "I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful; but ..."

• "I want my friend to miss me as long as I miss him. "
• "If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose ..."
• "If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are ..."
• "In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery? "
• "Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness ..."
• "It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as ..."
• "Love is the beauty of the soul. "
• "Love, and do what you like. "
• "Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of ..."
• "Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature. "
• "My mind withdrew its thoughts from experience, extracting itself from the contradictory throng of sensuous ..."
• "No eulogy is due to him who simply does his duty and nothing more. "
• "O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected ..."
• "O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet. "
• "Oh Lord, give me chastity, but do not give it yet. "
• "Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the ..."
• "Our bodies are shaped to bear children, and our lives are a working out of ..."
• "Passion is the evil in adultery. If a man has no opportunity of living with ..."
• "Patience is the companion of wisdom. "
• "People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of ..."
• "Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. "
• "Punishment is justice for the unjust. "

• "Renouncement: the heroism of mediocrity. "
• "Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. "
• "The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works. "
• "The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will ..."
• "The greatest evil is physical pain. "
• "The people who remained victorious were less like conquerors than conquered. "
• "The purpose of all wars, is peace. "
• "The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences. "
• "The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. "
• "There is no possible source of evil except good. "
• "This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections. "
• "Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled ..."
• "To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by ..."
• "To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. "
• "We cannot pass our guardian angel's bounds, resigned or sullen, he will hear our sighs. "
• "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the ..."
• "What I needed most was to love and to be loved, eager to be caught. ..."
• "What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If ..."
• "When [men] go to war, what they want is to impose on their enemies the ..."
• "Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a ..."