Henry Adams about himself, writing under the name of his friend Henry Cabot Lodge, in the Editor's Preface to the 1918 edition of The Education of Henry Adams (September 1918)
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He used to say, half in jest, that his great ambition was to complete St. Augustine's Confessions, but that St. Augustine, like a great artist, had worked from multiplicity to unity, while he, like a small one, had to reverse the method and work back from unity to multiplicity.
— Henry Adams about himself
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "He used to say, half in jest, that his great ambition was to complete St. Augustine's Confessions, but that St. Augustine, like a great artist, had worked from multiplicity to unity, while he, like a small one, had to reverse the method and work back from unity to multiplicity." in the context of "Henry Adams about himself, writing under the name of his friend Henry Cabot Lodge, in the Editor's Preface to the 1918 edition of The Education of Henry Adams (September 1918)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Augustine of Hippo" (Quotes about Augustine: Sorted alphabetically by author or source)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Augustine of Hippo
St. Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a Christian theologian, rhetor, North African bishop, Doctor of the Catholic Church, saint, and a philosopher influenced in his early years by Manichaeism and the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus.
About Augustine of Hippo
St. Augustine of Hippo (13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a Christian theologian, rhetor, North African bishop, Doctor of the Catholic Church, saint, and a philosopher influenced in his early years by Manichaeism and the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus.
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