Confessions by Augustine — BOOK II: Adolescence

1. 1. Augustine recalls his past sins not out of love for them, but to love God through the act of recollection.
2. 2. In adolescence, Augustine's dominant desire was to love and be loved, but he confused love's serenity with lust's darkness.
3. 3. Augustine's father was overjoyed at his son's signs of virility, hoping for grandchildren, but his mother feared for his chastity.
4. 4. Augustine felt ashamed among his peers if he could not boast of sexual exploits, and pretended to have committed sins he had not done.
5. 5. Augustine stole pears not out of need or desire for the fruit, but for the thrill of doing what was forbidden.
6. 6. Augustine argues that sin is committed when one abandons higher goods (God) for an immoderate pursuit of inferior goods.
7. 7. Augustine loved the theft itself, not the pears, and he would not have committed it alone; the companionship of the gang was essential to his pleasure.
8. 8. Augustine concludes that friendship can be a dangerous seduction, leading one to be ashamed not to be shameless.