For the ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright, Our life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man there is no remedy: neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Solomon 2:1 Go To Wisdom of Solomon 2
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
When you say to yourself, "The happiness of this world is false," though you dare not express it, I nevertheless see in your heart that perhaps you wrinkle up your nose, mockingly, and say to yourself, "Maybe it will go well for me here! What comes after, I don"t know." And it is not a small thing that you at least say that you do not know, so as to not perhaps also say, "Our life is short and sorrowful, and there is no remedy when a person dies. No one has been known to return from Hades." At least you say, "I don"t know." Recognizing one"s ignorance is a step toward knowledge. I speak to you, therefore, as if you were to say to me, "I don"t know what there could be after death. I simply don"t know whether the righteous will be blessed and sinners unhappy, or if both will cease to exist." Even not knowing, you would nevertheless not have the audacity to say that after death sinners will be blessed and the righteous unhappy. You cannot say, even if you suppose that both will no longer exist, that after death the godless will enjoy a better state and the righteous will suffer. Not even your ignorance can lead you to speak like that. Say, therefore, "I don"t know if after death it will go well for the righteous and badly for the godless, or if both the one and the other will exist insensibly."
