Augustine of Hippo, on Jer 17:5

“Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.”

“We must find out from what source true perseverance, worthy of the name, is to be had. There are those who attribute it to the powers of human will, not those that people have from divine assistance, but from their own free will. But that is an arrogant error. It is the error of the rich about whom the psalm speaks: "a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud." Glorying in their own false endurance, they wish "to confound the counsel of the poor person, but the Lord is his hope." Since they are people and attribute so much to themselves, that is, to their human will, they do not tend to apply to themselves the words of Scripture: "Cursed is everyone who trusts in humankind."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.