Confessions Suffering Quotes

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.