Thomas Aquinas Quotes | GloryQuotes

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Love

How can we live in harmony? First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God.

Love is a binding force, by which another is joined to me and cherished by myself.

Well-ordered self-love is right and natural.

Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.

The things that we love tell us what we are.

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.

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Nature

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.

By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments.

Whatever is received is received according to the nature of the recipient.

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.

More Quotes by Thomas Aquinas

The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them.

Law; an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community.

Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.

It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.

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.

Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.

It is possible to demonstrate God's existence, although not a priori, yet a posteriori from some work of His more surely known to us.

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.

The theologian considers sin mainly as an offence against God; the moral philosopher as contrary to reasonableness.

Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church.

Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures.

God should not be called an individual substance, since the principal of individuation is matter.

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.

Moral science is better occupied when treating of friendship than of justice.

Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will.

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.

Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches.

Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.

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.

Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in the circumstances confronting him.

Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.

If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.

All that is true, by whomsoever it has been said has its origin in the Spirit.

All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.

If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way.

Human salvation demands the divine disclosure of truths surpassing reason.

Reason in man is rather like God in the world.

Perfection of moral virtue does not wholly take away the passions, but regulates them.

Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.

Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.

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.

Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.

To live well is to work well, to show a good activity.

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.

Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.

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.

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.

A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.

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.

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.

To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.

Not everything that is more difficult is more meritorious.

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.

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.

How is it they live in such harmony the billions of stars - when most men can barely go a minute without declaring war in their minds about someone they know.

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.

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.

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.

Browse 65 quotes attributed to Thomas Aquinas, listed in the source data as a Italian Theologian, organized around themes such as Love, Nature, Friendship. Use the topic links to explore similar quotes, or browse the full author collection in one place.