50 Famous Quotes by Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was a medieval Italian philosopher and theologian who is best known for his work "Summa Theologica." The book is a comprehensive exploration of Christian theology, and it has had a profound influence on the development of Western philosophy and theology. Aquinas's approach emphasized the importance of reason and logic in understanding the nature of God and the world. His legacy as a thinker and scholar continues to inspire theologians and philosophers today. (Thomas Aquinas Biography).
Thomas Aquinas Famous Quotes
1. "There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship."
2. "Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate."
3. "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
4. "Every judgement of conscience, be it right or wrong, be it about things evil in themselves or morally indifferent, is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins."
5. "Love takes up where knowledge leaves off."
6. "Beware of the person of one book."
7. "If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever."
8. "Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand."
9. "The things that we love tell us what we are."
10. "If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way."
11. "Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do."
12. "To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin."
13. "Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good."
14. "To live well is to work well, to show a good activity."
15. "Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures."
16. "A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational."
17. "Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine."
18. "Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will."
19. "Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious."
20. "As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active power of the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of a woman comes from defect in the active power."
21. "Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder."
22. "Law is nothing other than a certain ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by the person who has the care of the community."
23. "Human salvation demands the divine disclosure of truths surpassing reason."
24. "All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly."
25. "Wonder is the desire for knowledge."
26. "By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments."
27. "Three conditions are necessary for Penance: contrition, which is sorrow for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works."
28. "It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes."
29. "We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves."
30. "Because we cannot know what God is, but only what He is not, we cannot consider how He is but only how He is not."
31. "The truth of our faith becomes a matter of ridicule among the infidels if any Catholic, not gifted with the necessary scientific learning, presents as dogma what scientific scrutiny shows to be false."
32. "Man should not consider his material possession his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need."
33. "In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary. First, the authority of the sovereign. Secondly, a just cause. Thirdly, a rightful intention."
34. "To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them."
35. "Love must precede hatred, and nothing is hated save through being contrary to a suitable thing which is loved. And hence it is that every hatred is caused by love."
36. "How can we live in harmony? First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God."
37. "Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church."
38. "The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them."
39. "Well-ordered self-love is right and natural."
40. "The test of the artist does not lie in the will with which he goes to work, but in the excellence of the work he produces."
41. "Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in the circumstances confronting him."
42. "The knowledge of God is the cause of things. For the knowledge of God is to all creatures what the knowledge of the artificer is to things made by his art."
43. "Reason in man is rather like God in the world."
44. "Whatever is received is received according to the nature of the recipient."
45. "Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion."
46. "If forgers and malefactors are put to death by the secular power, there is much more reason for excommunicating and even putting to death one convicted of heresy."
47. "There is but one Church in which men find salvation, just as outside the ark of Noah it was not possible for anyone to be saved."
48. "Love is a binding force, by which another is joined to me and cherished by myself."
49. "Because of the diverse conditions of humans, it happens that some acts are virtuous to some people, as appropriate and suitable to them, while the same acts are immoral for others, as inappropriate to them."
50. "That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell."
― Thomas Aquinas Quotes
* Want to explore more inspiring quotes and their meanings? Head over to my curated collection of elevating quotes.
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Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
