What is time? If no one asks me, I know.
Augustine of Hippo, Confessions 11.14.17
quid est ergo tempus? si nemo ex me quaerat, scio; si quaerenti explicare velim, nescio.
What is time? If no one asks me, I know.
Augustine of Hippo, Confessions 11.14.17
What it means
The most familiar things can be the hardest to explain. Augustine's honesty about time opened one of philosophy's great inquiries. Admit what you cannot define, and keep thinking anyway.
The source
"What is time? If no one asks me, I know." Augustine of Hippo said it in Confessions 11.14.17. Translated by E. B. Pusey, 1838.
"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not"E. B. Pusey, 1838, Confessions 11.14.17. Text read at gutenberg.org.
Who said it
Augustine of Hippo (354–430). North African bishop and philosopher. His Confessions, written in Latin around 400, is the first great autobiography in the West.
Questions
- What does "What is time? If no one asks me, I know." mean?
- The most familiar things can be the hardest to explain. Augustine's honesty about time opened one of philosophy's great inquiries. Admit what you cannot define, and keep thinking anyway.
- Who said "What is time? If no one asks me, I know."?
- Augustine of Hippo (354–430). Source: Confessions 11.14.17.
- What is the original wording?
- What then is time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not (E. B. Pusey, 1838). Translated by E. B. Pusey, 1838.
- Is "What is time? If no one asks me, I know." on a shirt?
- Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.
Cite this line
"What is time? If no one asks me, I know." (Augustine of Hippo, Confessions 11.14.17, trans. E. B. Pusey, 1838). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/what-is-time-if-no-one-asks-me
Filed under Quotes about time.
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More from Augustine of Hippo
- Our heart is restless until it rests in you.Confessions 1.1.1
- Late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new.Confessions 10.27.38
- You were within, and I was outside, looking for you.Confessions 10.27.38
- You were with me, but I was not with you.Confessions 10.27.38
- Take it and read. Take it and read.Confessions 8.12.29
- People travel to wonder at mountains and seas, and pass themselves by.Confessions 10.8.15