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This awful catastrophe is not the end but the beginning. History does not end so. It is the way its chapters open.
Saint Augustine
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes that even in the face of severe challenges, there is always an opportunity for new beginnings and growth.

Saint Augustine's quote suggests that every major setback or disaster, while devastating, should not be viewed as a definitive end. Instead, it is a pivotal moment from which new beginnings can emerge, highlighting the cyclical nature of history where each chapter leads to the next in a continuous narrative of change and renewal.

Themes

CatastropheBeginningHistoryChangeGrowth

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech on resilience, someone might quote this to inspire others to see challenges as opportunities.

More from Saint Augustine

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There is no health in those who are displeased by an element in Your creation, just as there was none in me when I was displeased by many things You had made. Because my soul didn't dare to say that my God displeased me, it refused to attribute to You whatever was displeasing.
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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.
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Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart.
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Whatever skills I have acquired, whatever gifts I have been given, I place them at Your service.
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Everyone who observes himself doubting observes a truth, and about that which he observes he is certain; therefore he is certain about a truth. Everyone therefore who doubts whether truth exists has in himself a truth on which not to doubt.... Hence one who can doubt at all ought not to doubt the existence of truth.
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