Sunday, October 20, 2024
Some Glory in Their Birth
Augustine, Sermons 289.6 (Patrologia Latina, vol. 38, col. 1312; tr. Edmund Hill):
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After all, what were you, man? Everyman, notice how you were born; even if you were born a noble, you were born naked. What's nobility, anyway? At birth, poor and rich are equally naked. Or perhaps because you were born a noble, you can live as long as you like? You came in when you didn't know, you go out when you don't want to. Finally, let the graves be examined, and the bones of the rich told apart.
Quid enim eras, homo? Omnis homo, attende quid natus es: etsi nobilis natus es, nudus natus es. Quid est nobilitas? Nativitas pauperis et divitis aequalis est nuditas. An forte quia nobilis natus es, quantum vis vivis? Quando nescisti, intrasti: quando non vis, exis. Postremo sepulcra inspiciantur, et ossa divitum agnoscantur.
