If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such

“If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times.” – Saint Augustine

In this immortal declaration, Saint Augustine, the philosopher-bishop of the early Church, speaks with the clarity of divine insight. He reminds us that the quality of the times is not shaped by fate or by history alone—it is shaped by the character of those who live within them. When he says, “As we are, such are the times,” he holds a mirror before humanity and declares that the state of the world is a reflection of the state of our souls. If the age seems cruel or corrupt, it is because men and women have allowed cruelty and corruption to dwell within their hearts. And if the times are good, it is not because fortune has favored us, but because righteousness has taken root in human lives.

The origin of this teaching lies in one of Augustine’s sermons, spoken during a period of turmoil in the late Roman Empire. His flock lamented that the times were evil—that the world had grown wicked, that decay and chaos ruled. To this despair, Augustine responded with compassion and stern truth. “Blame not the times,” he said, “for you are the times.” He saw clearly what many fail to see: that history is not an impersonal storm, but the accumulated breath of human choices. The moral weather of an age—its peace or violence, its justice or corruption—is born from the thoughts and deeds of its people. Thus, Augustine shifts the burden of history from destiny to duty, from complaint to conscience.

To live a good life, in Augustine’s vision, is to become a light in the darkness of the age. It is to recognize that every act of kindness, every word of truth, every moment of restraint, adds strength to the moral fabric of the world. The individual soul and the collective age are bound together; one cannot rise without the other. If the world is divided, let it be healed first in our hearts. If society is corrupt, let integrity begin in our homes. The ancients knew this truth: that the city is only as pure as its citizens, and the kingdom only as just as its king. Augustine, however, brings this wisdom to every person—reminding us that we each bear a spark of the divine, and therefore, a measure of responsibility for the times we inhabit.

Consider the story of Dorothy Day, a woman who lived in the shadow of the Great Depression. When poverty, despair, and injustice filled her world, she did not curse the times—she changed her life. She fed the hungry, comforted the broken, and founded communities of service that endure to this day. Her era was dark, yet her goodness lit a flame that still burns. She embodied Augustine’s truth: that to live rightly is to redeem one’s age, that even one heart filled with compassion can make the times a little more merciful.

Augustine’s words also carry a warning. When we look at the evils of the world and cry, “These are evil times,” we must not imagine ourselves innocent of them. The times grow evil when we surrender to fear, when we grow indifferent to injustice, when we let greed, envy, and hatred fester in our own souls. The disease of the age is but the reflection of our inner sickness. The remedy, then, is not despair, but transformation. For as Augustine teaches, the world will not change until we do. If we wish for peace, we must live peace. If we desire justice, we must act justly. If we dream of good times, we must first become good people.

This teaching is both humbling and liberating. It strips away excuses and empowers the soul. We cannot command the winds of politics or the tides of history, but we can command ourselves. We can choose virtue over vice, truth over deceit, forgiveness over vengeance. And in doing so, we participate in the slow but certain renewal of the world. For though the times may seem vast and distant, they are, in the end, made of us—our thoughts, our loves, our actions.

So, my child of the present age, remember this: the times are not masters but mirrors. Do not wait for the world to improve—be the improvement it awaits. Let your conduct be your protest against despair, your compassion your rebellion against cruelty. For the spirit of an age is written in the hearts of its people, and your heart is part of that script. As Saint Augustine teaches, “If we live good lives, the times are also good.” Therefore, live so that the generations to come may look back and say: “These were good times, for the people in them were good.”