He loves thee too little

"He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee which he loves not for Thy sake." (Augustine's Confessions, Book 10.29.40)

For some months I have had this quotation as the signature on my emails. Recently at a cocktail party, a friend asked me, "Why do you have that Augustine quote on your email?" I love to be asked questions like that!

My answer was twofold:

1. Augustine captures both dimensions of this truth: Nothing is loved too much, so long as God is most loved and those things that we love rightly are loved primarily for God's sake. The point is not that we love things or people too much, but we "love Thee too little."
2. Augustine not only captures this reality, but expresses it with such literary beauty and clarity as to give further glimpses into that of which he speaks.