St Aquinas
Italian Theologian (1225-1274)
Thomas Aquinas was an Aristotilian, neo-Platonistic Christian philosopher who held a master of theology and published On Truth, On Being and Essence, and Summa of Theology. Being a Christian, Aquinas’s works are mostly theological relating to being and the relationships attainable to God. Amongst his many ideas are five ways that humanity can experience the existence of God, and thus, precluded that human knowledge can exude the presence of Gods’ exists.
Quotes:
A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.
The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing.
Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.
Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.
Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.
Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.
Wonder is the desire for knowledge.
Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures.
The things that we love tell us what we are.
A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.
Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.
If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.
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.
The things that we love tell us what we are.
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.
If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way.
Not everything that is more difficult is more meritorious.
Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man’s own will.
How can we live in harmony? First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God.
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.
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.
The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them.
It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.
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.
The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing.
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.
By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments.
To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.
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.
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.
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.
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.
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 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.
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.
Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches.
All that is true, by whomsoever it has been said has its origin in the Spirit.