Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you

Written by Augustine of Hippo 354–430 · Bishop of Hippo Regius
Verified In copyright

The opening chapter of the Confessions (Book I, ch. 1, written in Latin c. 397–400): “quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.” The popular English follows modern renderings such as the one in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Its “O Lord” comes from the first line of the same paragraph, not from this sentence.

Last verified 3 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Verified quote & credit

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, Book I, ch. 1 (c. 397–400) · Verbatim: “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Libreria Editrice Vaticana (English text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church)). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Augustine of Hippo — Bishop of Hippo Regius, Church Father. Theme: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where it comes from

Work
Confessions (Confessiones)
Passage
Book I, chapter 1 (I.1.1), the opening paragraph
Written
In Latin, c. 397–400
Translation
English text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, §30 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

You are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is without measure. … You yourself encourage him to delight in your praise, for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. Confessions I.1.1

As quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, §30, footnote “St. Augustine, Conf. I, I, I.” The Latin reads: “magnus es, domine, et laudabilis valde … tu excitas ut laudare te delectet, quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.” “O Lord” (domine) opens the paragraph and does not appear in the famous clause.

Latin text of Confessions, Book I (The Latin Library)

How we verified this

  • The Latin original at The Latin Library ↗, section 1.1.1: “magnus es, domine, et laudabilis valde … quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te.”
  • E. B. Pusey’s translation on Project Gutenberg ↗: “Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised … for Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.” Albert C. Outler’s version at CCEL ↗: “Thou hast made us for thyself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee.”
  • The Catechism of the Catholic Church, §30 ↗ quotes the passage in the modern wording people now repeat: “for you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you,” and cites Conf. I, I, I.
  • Wikiquote ↗ lists the line under the Confessions (I, 1) with its Latin. E. J. Hutchinson’s “Whence St. Augustine’s ‘Restless Heart’?” ↗ found no earlier use of cor inquietum in surviving Latin literature.
In copyright

Augustine’s Latin is centuries old and in the public domain, and so are older English versions such as Pusey’s on Project Gutenberg ↗. The popular modern English, “you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you,” matches modern copyrighted translations such as the Catechism’s English text (© Libreria Editrice Vaticana ↗). So we treat this exact wording as in copyright.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

What gets garbled

The credit to Augustine is correct. What drifts is the English: the version passed around online is spliced together from two parts of his opening paragraph and changes its grammar.

“… for yourself, O Lord, and our heart …” Spliced

In the Latin ↗ the address domine (“O Lord”) comes in the paragraph’s first words, “magnus es, domine” (“Great art Thou, O Lord” in Pusey ↗). The famous clause itself, “fecisti nos ad te,” contains no “O Lord.”

“our hearts are restless until they rest in you” Plural

Augustine wrote cor nostrum, “our heart,” in the singular. Plural renderings are common anyway. Wikipedia ↗ gives “our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee,” and Wikiquote ↗ also lists a plural “O Lord” version.

“Thou madest us for Thyself …” Older translation

The “Thou” and “Thee” forms are not errors. They are older translations of the same sentence, such as Pusey’s ↗ (“our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee”).

Augustine wrote it. In Confessions I.1.1 the line is “quia fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te” (Latin text ↗). The most faithful modern English is “you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you,” with no “O Lord.”

Context

Why it matters

The sentence comes in the first paragraph of the Confessions, before Augustine says anything about his own life. He starts with praise (“Great art Thou, O Lord”) and then gives a reason why a small, mortal creature wants to praise God at all: people were made for God and cannot settle anywhere else. The Catholic Church still uses it this way. The Catechism ↗ quotes it to make the point that God never stops calling people to seek him.

The image seems to be his own. E. J. Hutchinson reports ↗ that he found no instance of cor inquietum, “restless heart,” in surviving Latin literature before Augustine. He concludes that the phrase is probably Augustine’s invention, even if the thought behind it has biblical or philosophical roots.

inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Purpose Love

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Confessions, Book I (Latin)thelatinlibrary.com

The original Latin of the opening paragraph, section 1.1.1
The Confessions, tr. E. B. Puseygutenberg.org

Full public-domain English translation; the line is in the first paragraph
Confessions, tr. Albert C. Outlerccel.org

Book One, Chapter I in Outler's translation at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Catechism of the Catholic Church, §30vatican.va

Quotes the passage in its modern English form, citing Conf. I, I, I
Augustine of Hippoen.wikiquote.org

Sourced Confessions entry (I, 1) with the Latin and an English translation
Whence St. Augustine's 'Restless Heart'?adfontesjournal.com

E. J. Hutchinson on why cor inquietum appears to be Augustine's own coinage

The author

About Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo

354–430 · Bishop of Hippo Regius, Church Father

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) was Bishop of Hippo Regius. He is one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church and among the most influential philosophers in Western history. His Confessions, thirteen books written in Latin c. 397–400, is an autobiography framed as a prayer to God, and this line comes from its first paragraph.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Cite this

Augustine of Hippo. Confessions, Book I, chapter 1 (I.1.1). Written in Latin c. 397–400. English as quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church, §30. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/you-have-made-us-for-yourself-o-lord-and-our-heart-is/

Something wrong on this page?

Tell us what’s off. A link helps but isn’t required — “this is the wrong person” is a useful report on its own. Nothing here changes the page directly; it goes to our review queue and a human checks it.

Only used to tell you if we act on your report. We never sell or share it.

Copied