Most people know the quotation from the Confessions “O God, make me good, but not yet!” But few realize the tension and despair underlying that famous bon mot. Like Aristotle, Augustine believed that the quality of life we lead depends on the choices we make. The tragedy is that left to our own devices—and contrary to Aristotle—most of those choices will be wrong. There can be no true morality without faith and no faith without the presence of God.
