The Confessions And Letters Of St

By St. Augustine

Chapter XXII.--A Happy Life is to Rejoice in God, and for God.

32. Let it be far, O Lord, -- let it be far from the heart of Thy servant who confesseth unto Thee; let it be far from me to think myself happy, be the joy what it may. For there is a joy which is not granted to the "wicked," [859] but to those who worship Thee thankfully, whose joy Thou Thyself art. And the happy life is this, -- to rejoice unto Thee, in Thee, and for Thee; this it is, and there is no other. [860] But those who think there is another follow after another joy, and that not the true one. Their will, however, is not turned away from some shadow of joy.