Thomas Aquinas Quotes - Page 8

Wonder was the motive that led people to philosophy ... wonder is a kind of desire in knowledge. It is the cause of delight because it carries with it the hope of discovery.

Whenever God wakes in us, our thinking becomes clear - nothing is missing.

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

Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.

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

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.

He that obstinately denieth the truth before men upon earth, wilfully refuseth his soul's health in heaven.

Prostitution in the towns is like the cesspool in the palace; take away the cesspool and the palace will become an unclean and evil smelling-place.

The proper task of the Savior is that he is a savior; indeed, for this he came into the world: to seek and save what was lost.

An act of love always tends towards two things; to the good that one wills, and to the person for whom one wills it.

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.

The magnitude of the punishment matches the magnitude of the sin. Now a sin that is against God is infinite; the higher the person against whom it is committed, the graver the sin-it is more criminal to strike a head of state than a private citizen-and God is of infinite greatness. Therefore an infinite punishment is deserved for a sin committed against Him.

Man is closer to God according to his existence in grace than he is according to his existence in nature.

Sing, my tongue, the Saviour's glory, Of His Flesh, the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world's redemption, From a noble Womb to spring.

Man has free choice, or otherwise counsels, exhortations, commands, prohibitions, rewards and punishments would be in vain.

The minister to whom confession is made is the delegate of Christ, Who is the Judge of the living and the dead.

The meaning of what is said is according to the motive for saying it: because things are not subject to speech, but speech to things. Therefore we should take account of the motive of the lawgiver, rather than of his very words.

Grace does not destroy nature, it perfects it.

It is not theft, properly speaking, to take secretly and use another's property in a case of extreme need: because that which he takes for the support of his life becomes his own property by reason of that need

There must be must be a first mover existing above all – and this we call God.

Secondly, man sins against nature when he goes against his generic nature, that is to say, his animal nature. Now, it is evident that, in accord with natural order, the union of the sexes among animals is ordered towards conception. From this it follows that every sexual intercourse that cannot lead to conception is opposed to man's animal nature.

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

Baptism is the door of the spiritual life and the gateway to the sacraments.

Now this relaxation of the mind from work consists on playful words or deeds. Therefore it becomes a wise and virtuous man to have recourse to such things at times.

Eternity is called whole, not because it has parts, but because it is lacking in nothing.