De Civitate Dei XIV, 13,1
Quote 12 20
Man did not deteriorate or degenerate in such a way as to completely become nothing, rather when he turned toward the self, he became less than what he was when still united to the Supreme Being. Departing, therefore, from God and seeking to be entrenched in the self, i.e., complacent with the self, is not being nothing, but is surely approximating it.