How we cite our quotes: (Book.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
All my empty dreams suddenly lost their charm and my heart began to throb with a bewildering passion for the wisdom of eternal truth. (III.4.1)
You might say that this is when Augustine hears his "calling," or at least his first one. In fact, you might say that it's Augustine's desire for wisdom that ultimately leads him to God.
Quote #5
My God, you had mercy on me even before I had confessed to you; but I now confess that all this was because I tried to find you, not through the understanding of the mind, by which you meant us to be superior to the beasts, but through the sense of the flesh. (III.6.6)
Augustine means that when he was with the Manichees, he couldn't conceive of purely spiritual things. He could only think of physical things—like whether matter was good or evil. We know that Augustine is big on proving stuff, at least early in his life, so he likes the certainty that the "sense of the flesh" can provide. But the wisdom of God is more of a mental exercise than a physical one. You don't go out to search for God in the world, you search for God in yourself. Which is a lot less tiring than jogging up a bunch of stairs.
Quote #6
I read them with pleasure, but I did not know the real source of such truth and certain facts as they contained. I had my back to the light and my face was turned towards the things which it illumined, so that my eyes, by which I saw the things which stood in the light, were themselves in darkness. (IV.16.4)
Augustine has said before that it's more important that people believe than understand. Well, Augustine is going about it backwards. After all, what's the important thing to aspire to: God's creation, or God Himself? Remember, Augustine likes to tell us that knowledge in and of itself is useless because it only serves worldly ambitions, like being the smartest person in the room. (We're looking at you, kiddo.) The important knowledge is knowledge that relates to God.