How we cite our quotes: (Book.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #10
O Lord, I am working hard in this field, and the field of my labours is my own self. I have become a problem to myself, like land which a farmer works only with difficulty and at the cost of much sweat. (X.16.2)
This quote is not talking about moral weakness, but intellectual weakness. See, Augustine is trying to understand memory and forgetfulness, but he keeps running into the barrier of his own physical limits. So it's like Augustine is stuck with this fallow tract of land that he's trying to farm, and it's just not producing anything. But all of the difficulty that he's encountering lies within himself; he's both the farmer and the field in this metaphor. Guess we've gotta spend some time cultivating our own gardens and whatnot.