Question

Confessions. According to Augustine, why are bad habits so hard to break?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Saint Augustine, prior to taking his vows to join the priesthood, was a man of debauchery. He was always in pursuit of pleasures of the flesh and material satisfaction. In his book, ‘Confessions’, Augustine openly talks about the morbid life he lead and how he painstakingly gave up his old habits in order to achieve self-actualisation on a spiritual level.

He describes how his old habits were no longer what he wanted to pursue as they were not a part of him anymore, yet he describes that they were indeed hard to break. Augustine talks about how a habit is hard to break because the carnal or physical self and the spiritual self or the power of self-will are both conflicting each other.

Augustine describes that only with constant attrition and as time gradually passed, his habits began to weaken. His victory incidentally took place while he was talking a walk in the garden and felt his attachment to his old self eventually leave him.

In other words, Augustine states that a habit is hard to break because it is a constant battle that requires a formidable will power.

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Saint Augustine, prior to taking his vows to join the priesthood, was a man of debauchery. He was always in pursuit of pleasures of the flesh and material satisfaction. In his book, ‘Confessions’, Augustine openly talks about the morbid life he leads and how he painstakingly gave up his old habits in order to achieve self-actualisation on a spiritual level.

He describes how his old habits were no longer what he wanted to pursue as they were not a part of him anymore, yet he describes that they were indeed hard to break. Augustine talks about how a habit is hard to break because the carnal or physical self and the spiritual self or the power of self-will are both conflicting each other.

Augustine describes that only with constant attrition and as time gradually passed, his habits began to weaken. His victory incidentally took place while he was talking a walk in the garden and felt his attachment to his old self eventually leave him.

In other words, Augustine states that a habit is hard to break because it is a constant battle that requires a formidable will power.