Augustine and LoveAgostino continually states that he is not yet in love, but that he is in love with love. This statement makes no sense to me. I don't think anyone can fall in love with something if they don't understand what love is. “I wasn't in love yet, but I was in love with love, and from the depths of my need I hated myself for not feeling the need more intensely.” (p. 35) How can Augustine hate himself if he doesn't know what it means to love? I think many of Augustine's statements about love are interesting. Augustine has some very good points about love, but he also contradicts himself. Is Augustine saying he wasn't in love or that he doesn't understand love? Both of these statements make me wonder how he can be in love with love if he is not in love. After stating this, Augustine continues to support his statement by talking about friendship. Is the friendship Augustine talks about lustful or is it genuinely about love? “Thus I polluted the river of friendship with the filth of impure desire and stained its clarity with the hell of lust.” (pg. 35) Obviously Augustine lets the idea of ​​love turn directly into lust. He talks about impure desires, but says he wants to be clean and courteous. Perhaps Augustine has the wrong idea of ​​love.