Confessions Suffering Quotes

He's talking about the Aeneid, the Roman epic written by the poet Virgil, which has been taught to every student of Latin since it was written around 25 BC. Augustine may love him a tragic love story, but his appreciation of literature seems to distract him from a very real problem. For Augustine, literature isn't a conduit for genuine emotion, but a fake substitute for the real deal. Like the Splenda of the soul.

This passage is really an exploration of grief. Why do we feel sad when we lose loved ones? Is it just that we miss them? Is it something more? Does a belief in God change how we feel about it? Why can't we control our emotions? And what is so soothing about crying during times of grief? That's a lot of implications for one little statement.

The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away (Job 1:21), right? That's one of the problems of having it made; you have a lot to lose. Augustine seems to be saying that it's not worth it, even when that thing "that cannot last" is a beloved person. So is he saying that love his bad? No. He's saying that attachment to anything that isn't God is bad. But compare how he reacts to his friend's death as a young man to how he reacts to the death of his mother after he has converted. Is there a big change in his feelings? We certainly think so.

If only we could turn suffering off like a light switch. But, as Augustine points out, suffering isn't something that exists outside of ourselves. So why does it feel that way? And even more than that, why does Augustine make it sound like his heart is the one beating up itself? Where is all of this suffering coming from? With phrases like "prey to myself" and "refuge from myself," Augustine sure is making it sound like he is the cause of his own suffering. And we have to agree with him, here, because he is the one refusing to give up on sex in order to save his own soul.

Wow, talk about an about-face from that last quote. Now Augustine is talking about looking for God, and not seeing him because he himself doesn't realize the extent of his own erring. Even though before he was talking about not being able to escape himself. Here, he's conveying suffering through the idea of separation and isolation; but it's not just isolation from God, but isolation from himself, too. Does Augustine mean to say that he had given up on himself? Does he mean that he didn't know who he was or wanted to be? What exactly does it mean to be lost anyway?

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Ever think that a change of scenery will solve all of your problems? Well, that only works if scenery was the issue to begin with. Augustine is misdiagnosing his malaise; it's not Carthage that's making him miserable, but his own inadequate soul. Remember what he says in the previous two quotes about (1) not being able to escape from himself and (2) not being able to find himself? So you could understand this move as either running from himself or looking for himself—or both.

Here Augustine emphasizes the speechlessness of his suffering. It's one thing to moan and lament till the cows come home, but Augustine can't even begin to find the words to talk about his problems with his bros. In fact, it seems like Augustine's suffering often leaves him speechless in the Confessions: it's something he bears silently and keeps to himself. Aside from this big, long book he wrote about his experiences.

Okay, so first, he can't escape himself, next he can't find himself, and now he's a house divided against himself? Why are there always two Augustines and why are they always fighting? Also, why does Augustine say "inner" self? Isn't that already implied? One thing that is pretty clear here is that the division Augustine feels is the rift between his earthly wants and his spiritual wants. Those two things reside under the same metaphorical "roof." Is it possible for them to co-exist? Augustine doesn't seem to think so, so one is going to have to win out (see the next quote for info about The Big Winner).

When we think of evil, we usually think of a conscious, active decision to do evil. We don't often think of evil as some sort of substance that floats around the world and contaminates things… that's closer to what the Manichees believe. Also, we probably don't think of sadness and evil as having much to do with one another. Sure, sadness sucks, but it's not necessarily evil, unless we're dividing everything into categories of "good" and "bad." So, basically, the choice of the word "evil" is interesting here because it implies that good and bad—all good and all bad—are always in some sort of contest.

This little line has a cameo in T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland": "but Thou pluckest me out, O Lord, Thou pluckest me out" (from the Edward Bouverie Pusey translation, which likes the word "Thou" a lot more). Right before this line, Augustine says that even though he has a pretty good notion of what things to avoid, this world is still full of snares. This really frames Augustine as an innocent bystander, doesn't it? And if sinning is something that we can't always stop ourselves from doing, well, no one knows more about that than Augustine. The point here is that our salvation doesn't lie within ourselves and our own self-discipline, but in God's sheer mercy. Better not take too much credit for anything you do, boys and girls. God's on it.