And undoubtedly both divine grace and natural knowledge, far
from diminishing my liberty, rather increase it and strengthen
it. Hence this indifference which I feel, when I am not
swayed to one side rather than to the other by lack of reason,
is the lowest grade of liberty, and rather evinces a lack or
negation in knowledge than a perfection of will: for if I
always recognised clearly what was true and good, I should
never have trouble in deliberating as to what judgment or
choice I should make, and then I should be entirely free
without ever being indifferent.
From all this I recognise that the power of will which I
have received from God is not of itself the source of my
errors?for it is very ample and very perfect of its kind?any
more than is the power of understanding; for since I
understand nothing but by the power which God has given me for
understanding, there is no doubt that all that I understand, I
understand as I ought, and it is not possible that I err in
this. Whence then come my errors? They come from the sole
fact that since the will is much wider in its range and
compass than the understanding, I do not restrain it within
the same bounds, but extend it also to things which I do not
understand: and as the will is of itself indifferent to
these, it easily falls into error and sin, and chooses the
evil for the good, or the false for the true.
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