Thou, before whom all my desires and sighs are manifest, thou knowest, o Lord, that from letters, to which I soberly aspired, I asked nothing but to become virtuous, and that this cannot be obtained from letters, whatever Aristotle and others may promise, but from thee alone; and if the path of letters seemed to me more honourable, safer and more pleasant to that goal, I always took thee and not others as my guide. You then, who scrutinise and read the depths of this heart, see that what I say is true. As a young man I was ardent and eager for glory, I do not deny it, but never so much that I did not wish to be good rather than learned. And the one and the other I confess that I have desired, as is proper to human nature, which never rests, never becomes full, until it rests in you, the ultimate end of all desire ... Thou, my God, Lord of all sciences, one and only, who to Aristotle, to all philosophers, to all poets, to those who boast of sublime sermons, to literature finally, to every doctrine and to all things, I must and will put before all things: thou, that which they undeservedly attribute to me, the name of a good man, grant me, for thou canst, I beseech thee. Nor do I ask the name alone, which Solomon said was more precious than precious balms: but the thing with the name, so that by loving you I may be made worthy of your love. For no other lover is more worthy than thou, and I am firm in thinking only of thee, obeying thee, hoping in thee, speaking of thee.