{"id": "card_n_de33bf7bf75f", "kind": "note", "title": "Augustine, Confessions §aug_conf_04_029: What did all this further me, seeing it even hindered me?", "body": "What did all this further me, seeing it even hindered me? when, imagining whatever was, was comprehended under those ten Predicaments, I essayed in such wise to understand, O my God, Thy wonderful and unchangeable Unity also, as if Thou also hadst been subjected to Thine own greatness or beauty; so that (as in bodies) they should exist in Thee, as their subject: whereas Thou Thyself art Thy greatness and beauty; but a body is not great or fair in that it is a body, seeing that, though it were less great or fair, it should notwithstanding be a body. But it was falsehood which of Thee I conceived, not truth, fictions of my misery, not the realities of Thy blessedness. For Thou hadst commanded, and it was done in me, that the earth should bring forth briars and thorns to me, and that in the sweat of my brows I should eat my bread.", "source": {"label": "Augustine, Confessions (c. AD 400)", "url": "", "ref": "aug_conf_04_029", "authority_tier": "father"}, "shelf": "classics", "box": "augustine_confessions", "bands": ["augustine", "confessions", "father"], "connections": [{"to_card_id": "card_n_de5c26ee42b0", "relationship": "same_section", "origin": "nesting_2026_06_12"}, {"to_card_id": "card_n_de2723a71c8d", "relationship": "same_section", "origin": "nesting_2026_06_12"}, {"to_card_id": "card_spine_classics", "relationship": "member_of", "evidence": "a member of the classics shelf in the keeping"}], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-05-19T13:20:57.729375+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-19T19:57:54.817376+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 4, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "138335d8a209394163f000c8e7c803dfcd6b373010307ea22a607aff9eb65017", "witnesses": [{"class": "manuscript_tradition", "label": "Patrologia Latina (Migne) vol. 32 — Confessions Latin text", "url": "https://patristica.net/latina/", "ref": "PL-32"}, {"class": "critical_edition", "label": "Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (CCSL) 27 — Verheijen", "url": "https://www.corpuschristianorum.org/", "ref": "CCSL-27"}, {"class": "translation", "label": "Pusey translation (1838) — Library of Fathers", "url": "https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf101.html", "ref": "Pusey-1838"}, {"class": "translation", "label": "Pine-Coffin translation (Penguin Classics, 1961)", "ref": "Pine-Coffin-1961"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Internet Archive — Confessions (multiple editions)", "url": "https://archive.org/search?query=augustine+confessions", "ref": "IA-Confessions"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Project Gutenberg — Confessions", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3296", "ref": "PG-3296"}, {"class": "citation_tradition", "label": "Aquinas, Summa Theologica — cites Confessions extensively", "ref": "Aquinas-ST"}], "witness_status": "passed", "witness_status_reason": "7 witnesses across 5 independence classes: ['citation_tradition', 'critical_edition', 'manuscript_tradition', 'republication', 'translation']", "surface": "witness", "call": "classics.augustine.confessions", "facets": {"person": []}, "presentation": {"glyph": "•", "kind_label": "augustine confessions", "by": "Augustine, Confessions (c. AD 400)", "authority": "father", "posted": "", "standing": ""}, "neighbors": [{"id": "card_n_de5c26ee42b0", "title": "Augustine, Confessions §aug_conf_12_040: In this diversity of the true opinions, let Truth herself produce concord.", "relationship": "same section", "why": "", "href": "/card/card_n_de5c26ee42b0", "resolved": true}, {"id": "card_n_de2723a71c8d", "title": "Augustine, Confessions §aug_conf_01_029: Bear with me, my God, while I say somewhat of my wit, Thy gift, and on what d...", "relationship": "same section", "why": "", "href": "/card/card_n_de2723a71c8d", "resolved": true}, {"id": "card_spine_classics", "title": "The classics — the great books, kept whole", "relationship": "on the shelf of", "why": "a member of the classics shelf in the keeping", "href": "/card/card_spine_classics", "resolved": true}]}