St. Augustine of Hippo is one of the many great Saints whose words have the power to pierce through your heart and awaken you to the Truth of who you are. 

He has been and continues to be a source of great strength, faith, wisdom, and inspiration for people from all over the world. And chances are, after reading this post you will become one of them as well.

33 Powerful Life Lessons to Learn From St. Augustine of Hippo

“Tolle, lege: take up and read.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

These were the words Augustine of Hippo heard from the mouth a little child playing a game, words that were going to change his life forever.

1. If you are suffering from a bad man’s injustice, forgive him —lest there be two bad men.

“If you are suffering from a bad man’s injustice, forgive him—lest there be two bad men.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

2. Let Love be rooted in you and all that you do

“If you keep silent, keep silent by love: if you speak, speak by love; if you correct, correct by love; if you pardon, pardon by love; let love be rooted in you, and from the root, nothing but good can grow. Love and do what you will.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

3. The daughters of Hope are Anger and Courage

“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

4. Fear is the enemy of Love

“Fear Is The Enemy Of Love.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

5.There is no better proof of friendship than to help our friends with their burdens.

“There is no better proof of friendship than to help our friends with their burdens.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

6. The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder.

“The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

7. He that is kind is free.

“He that is kind is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

8. The state of the world today is a reflection of our inner state

“Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times; Such as we are, such are the times.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

9. Beauty grows in you to the extent that love grows

“Beauty grows in you to the extent that love grows because charity itself is the soul’s beauty.” “You cannot attain to charity except through humility.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

10. The higher you want to go, the deeper the foundation of humility must be.

“Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

11. Truth needs no defending.

“The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.” ~ Saint Augustine

“People hate the truth for the sake of whatever it is that they love more than the truth. They love truth when it shines warmly on them, and hate it when it rebukes them.” ~ Saint Augustine

12. Patience is the companion of wisdom

“Patience is the companion of wisdom.” ~ Saint Augustine

13. Whoever walks with fools will suffer harm.

“Bad company is like a nail driven into a post, which, after the first and second blow, may be drawn out with little difficulty; but being once driven up to the head, the pincers cannot take hold to draw it out, but which can only be done by the destruction of the wood.” ~ Saint Augustine of Hippo

14. In doing what we ought we need no praise because it is our duty.

“In doing what we ought we deserve no praise because it is our duty.” ~ Saint Augustine 

15. To know the character of a person, observe what they love.

“In order to discover the character of people we have only to observe what they love.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

16. Believe so you may understand.

“Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.” ~ Saint Augustine

17. Your Faith is Your Fortune

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

18. Since you cannot do good to all, pay special attention to those brought closer to you.

“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.” ~ Saint Augustine

19. Love has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of people.

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” ~ Saint Augustine

20. To fall in love with God is the greatest romance

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.” ~ Saint Augustine

“Oh, God, to know you is life. To serve You is freedom. To praise you is the soul’s joy and delight. Guard me with the power of Your grace here and in all places. Now and at all times, forever. Amen.” ~ Saint Augustine

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

21. God is at Home. It’s we who have gone out for a walk.

“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

22. To be full of things is to be empty of God

“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

23. Right is right even if no one is doing it

“Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.” ~ Saint Augustine

24. Misery is the state of every lost soul

“I was in misery, and misery is the state of every soul overcome by friendship with mortal things and lacerated when they are lost. Then the soul becomes aware of the misery which is its actual condition even before it loses them.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

25. Pray as though everything depended on God.

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” ~ Saint Augustine

26. Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains and they pass by themselves without wondering.

“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” ~ Saint Augustine

“Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you there, and in my unlovely state, I plunged into those lovely created things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you. The lovely things kept me far from you, though if they did not have their existence in you, they had no existence at all. You called and cried out loud and shattered my deafness. You were radiant and resplendent, you put to flight my blindness. You were fragrant, and I drew in my breath and now pant after you. I tasted you, and I feel but hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I am set on fire to attain the peace which is yours.” ~ Saint Augustine

27. Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation

“Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

28. A Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot

“A Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot.” ~St. Augustine of Hippo

“The Bible was composed in such a way that as beginners mature, its meaning grows with them.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

29. Where your heart is, there lies your happiness. 

“Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure: where your treasure, there your heart; where your heart, there your happiness” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

30. Sin is looking for the right thing in the wrong place

“Sin is looking for the right thing in the wrong place.” ~St. Augustine of Hippo

31. The greatest evil is physical pain.

“The greatest evil is physical pain.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

32. There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.

“There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

33. Our hearts will not find rest until they rest in God

“Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.” ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

BONUS: St. Augustine of Hippo Quotes

“I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are wise and very beautiful, but I have never read in either of them: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.” 

“The Bible was composed in such a way that as beginners mature, its meaning grows with them.”

“If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”

“We make a ladder for ourselves of our vices if we trample those same vices underfoot.”

~love, Luminita💫

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