"Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he does not know that the dead
are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell." (Prov. 9:17-18)
"Near our vineyard there was a pear tree, loaded with fruit, though the fruit was not particularly
attractive either in color or in taste. I, and some other wretched youths, conceived the idea of
shaking the pears off this tree and carrying them away. We set out late that night (having, as we
usually did in our depraved way, gone on playing in the streets till that hour) and stole all the fruit
that we could carry. And this was not to feed ourselves; we may have tasted a few. But, we threw
the rest to the pigs. I had no wish to enjoy what I tried to get by theft; all my enjoyment was in the
theft itself and in sin. Our real pleasure was in doing something that was not allowed." (From The
Confessions of St. Augustine, p. 45)
Man, through his depravity, enjoys the pleasures of sin. Let us remember that the pleasures of sin are only passing and temporary at best. Though "stolen water is sweet," it leads down the path to hell.