Key Arguments

• He affirms that truth is grounded in reality, not in elegance of expression: he had learned from God "that nothing is true merely because it is eloquently said, nor false because the signs coming from the lips make sounds deficient in a sense of style".
• He makes the converse point, that polished diction does not confer truth nor plainness confer falsity: "Again, a statement is not true because it is enunciated in an unpolished idiom, nor false because the words are splendid."
• He likens wisdom and foolishness to kinds of food, with verbal style merely the serving ware, to show the independence of substantive value from form: "Wisdom and foolishness are like food that is nourishing or useless. Whether the words are ornate or not does not decide the issue. Food of either kind can be served in either town or country ware."
• He prefaces this with the doctrinal claim that God alone is the teacher of truth, wherever it appears, reinforcing that truth’s authority is divine rather than stylistic: "none other than you is teacher of the truth, wherever and from whatever source it is manifest."

Source Quotes

hidden ways, and I believe what you have taught me because it is true, and none other than you is teacher of the truth, wherever and from whatever source it is manifest. Already I had learnt from you that nothing is true merely because it is eloquently said, nor false because the signs coming from the lips make sounds deficient in a sense of style.

hidden ways, and I believe what you have taught me because it is true, and none other than you is teacher of the truth, wherever and from whatever source it is manifest. Already I had learnt from you that nothing is true merely because it is eloquently said, nor false because the signs coming from the lips make sounds deficient in a sense of style. Again, a statement is not true because it is enunciated in an unpolished idiom, nor false because the words are splendid.

Already I had learnt from you that nothing is true merely because it is eloquently said, nor false because the signs coming from the lips make sounds deficient in a sense of style. Again, a statement is not true because it is enunciated in an unpolished idiom, nor false because the words are splendid. Wisdom and foolishness are like food that is nourishing or useless.

Again, a statement is not true because it is enunciated in an unpolished idiom, nor false because the words are splendid. Wisdom and foolishness are like food that is nourishing or useless. Whether the words are ornate or not does not decide the issue. Food of either kind can be served in either town or country ware. (11) For a long time I had eagerly awaited Faustus.

Key Concepts

• none other than you is teacher of the truth, wherever and from whatever source it is manifest.
• nothing is true merely because it is eloquently said, nor false because the signs coming from the lips make sounds deficient in a sense of style.
• a statement is not true because it is enunciated in an unpolished idiom, nor false because the words are splendid.
• Wisdom and foolishness are like food that is nourishing or useless. Whether the words are ornate or not does not decide the issue. Food of either kind can be served in either town or country ware.

Context

Book V, section vi (11): Before describing his meeting with Faustus, Augustine articulates a general principle about rhetoric and truth, learned from God, that prepares the critique of Faustus and Manichaean eloquence.