Motto
Let those, therefore, who are going to read this book not imitate me when I err, but rather when I progress toward the better. For, perhaps, one who reads my works in the order in which they were written will find out how I progressed while writing.
quapropter quicumque ista lecturi sunt, non me imitentur errantem, sed in melius proficientem. inueniet enim fortasse, quomodo scribendo profecerim, quisquis opscula mea ordine, quo scripta sunt, legerit.
Augustine, Retractationum, Preface 3 (CSELÂ 36:10 [PLÂ 32:586]), translated by Bogan, The Retractions