The strength of soul in Augustine contributed greatly to his enthusiasm, his continual search for truth, his affection, his zeal, and his devotion to duty. The young Augustine described himself in the following way: "I lived and thought and took care of my self-preservation. An inward instinct told me to take care of the integrity of my senses, and even in my little thoughts about little matters I took delight in the truth. I hated to be deceived, I developed a good memory, I acquired skill with words: friendship softened me, I avoided pain and ignorance."
The same qualities are seen throughout his life. He was very sensitive, emotional and passionate. Although he was an intellectual, he was not a dry intellectual. Although always emphasising the passing nature of created things, he never denied the richness of life or the beauty of the world. For Augustine, intellect and heart always went together. Consequently love, common life and friendship lay at the core of his life and thought.
A superficial reading of his Confessions might give the impression that Augustine was a shy person, but the reality was the opposite. In fact, Augustine by intention was rarely ever alone. He himself admitted that he could not possibly be happy without the presence of friends. A friendship might cost him half his soul, yet it was through friendship that his wounds could be healed. This is probably due to the cultural feeling for solidarity common to the African peoples. Even those who may doubt the soundness or value of some of his dogmatic conclusions do not hesitate to acknowledge the depth of his spiritual convictions.
Also rarely questioned is the strength, solidity, and penetration with which he handled the most difficult questions, and wrought all the elements of his experience and of his profound knowledge of the Bible into a great system of Christian thought.The above material is based on the writings of the late Tarsisius van Bavel O.S.A.
What would be a fair description of the character and personality of Augustine?
Even in the face of 6,000,000 words that Augustine himself wrote or preached as well as a great number of books and treatises written about him over the past 1,500 years, this question is difficult to answer in any confident and succinct way, not only because the clues provided within his writings and sermons are so diverse but also because throughout his intellectually and physically active life there were various strong prejudices in his heart and head.
Even so, the enduring and universal appeal of Augustine as an individual is his umanita, which is an Italian word that translates into English as "human quality" or "human warmth." This shone through his friendly nature; it has been said that it is impossible to imagine Augustine as ever being alone. He lived his entire life in an active community and among enduring friends. Augustine was a social being. He loved the company of others. They not only sharpened his thinking, they softened his heart. It was this human warmth that prompted some authors to picture him as a "passionate African," a person of strong intellectual and emotional passions.
This motivated him to examine and to reveal in his Confessions his own moral and philosophical struggles, conflicts, and temptations, and his intensely personal quest for God. Emmet Costello S.J. wrote of about the emotional intensity of Augustine: "His character was such that he had to be profoundly good - or profoundly bad. Everything he had, he had intensely. Augustine would try to make amends for the excesses of the past (his later teachings on sexual themes, alas, were rigorous and pessimistic) - so he gave away all his money, prayed and fasted a lot and ultimately became a priest.”
He continued, "(In Augustine) there was all the artist's desire for intense living, for the satisfaction of hungry appetites. And could any contemporary have imagined that this romantic and passionate young man would end his days as the towering spiritual and intellectual champion of the Christian faith; one of the most powerful, enduring, dynamic personalities of all time?"
Personalidad de Agustin. (A web page written in Spanish.) "Unicamente la verdad alcanza la victoria y la victoria de la verdad es el amor." (Sermón 385,1). http://www.oala.villanova.edu/agustin/personalidad2.html AN1318