Chapter I

1. Let me know thee, O my Knower; let me know thee even as I am known.¹ O Strength of my soul, enter it and prepare it for thyself that thou mayest have and hold it, without “spot or blemish.”² This is my hope, therefore have I spoken; and in this hope I rejoice whenever I rejoice aright. But as for the other things of this life, they deserve our lamentations less, the more we lament them; and some should be lamented all the more, the less men care for them. For see, “Thou desirest truth”³ and “he who does the truth comes to the light.”⁴ This is what I wish to do through confession in my heart before thee, and in my writings before many witnesses.