The Philosopher

John Henry Newman

The face

The background

Nationality:
English
Schools:
Aristotelianism, Augustinianism, Empiricism, Christian humanism
Branchs:
Anglicanism, Catholicism
Period:
19th-century philosophy

The synopsis

John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. Originally an evangelical academic at the University of Oxford and priest in the Church of England, Newman was drawn to the high church tradition of Anglicanism. He became one of the more notable leaders of the Oxford Movement, an influential grouping of Anglicans who wished to restore to the Church of England many Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals from before the English Reformation. In this, the movement had some success. After publishing his Tract 90 in 1841, Newman later wrote: 'I was on my death-bed, as regards my membership with the Anglican Church.' In 1845, Newman resigned his teaching post at Oxford and officially left the Church of England and was received into the Catholic Church. He was quickly ordained as a priest and continued as an influential religious leader, based in Birmingham. In 1879, he was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in recognition of his services to the cause of the Catholic Church in England. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland in 1854, which later became University College Dublin. Newman was also a prominent writer: his major writings include the Tracts for the Times (1833–1841), his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845), his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1864), and the Grammar of Assent (1870). In particular, his theory on the development of doctrine has been highly influential on subsequent Catholic theology. Newman's canonization was approved by Pope Francis and took place on 13 October 2019. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIV in 2025 and was also named co-patron of Catholic education, joining Saint Thomas Aquinas.

The works

The quotes

Growth is the only evidence of life.
John Henry Newman
We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.
John Henry Newman
Calculation never made a hero.
John Henry Newman
Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.
John Henry Newman
In this world no one rules by love; if you are but amiable, you are no hero; to be powerful, you must be strong, and to have dominion you must have a genius for organizing.
John Henry Newman
A great memory is never made synonymous with wisdom, any more than a dictionary would be called a treatise.
John Henry Newman
It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.
John Henry Newman
It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment but not in matters of conscience.
John Henry Newman
There is such a thing as legitimate warfare: war has its laws; there are things which may fairly be done, and things which may not be done.
John Henry Newman
Nothing is more common than for men to think that because they are familiar with words they understand the ideas they stand for.
John Henry Newman
Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.
John Henry Newman
We must make up our minds to be ignorant of much, if we would know anything.
John Henry Newman
To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living.
John Henry Newman
Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not... We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.
John Henry Newman
It is almost the definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain.
John Henry Newman
A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.
John Henry Newman
To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.
John Henry Newman
Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall never have a beginning.
John Henry Newman
It is very difficult to get up resentment towards persons whom one has never seen.
John Henry Newman
If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable... we must be content to creep along the ground, and never soar.
John Henry Newman
Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.
John Henry Newman
If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.
John Henry Newman
A great memory does not make a mind, any more than a dictionary is a piece of literature.
John Henry Newman
Men will die upon dogma but will not fall victim to a conclusion.
John Henry Newman
The love of our private friends is the only preparatory exercise for the love of all men.
John Henry Newman
Let us act on what we have, since we have not what we wish.
John Henry Newman
It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain.
John Henry Newman
From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the fundamental principle of my religion: I know no other religion; I cannot enter into the idea of any other sort of religion; religion, as a mere sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery.
John Henry Newman
Ability is sexless.
John Henry Newman