The Philosopher
Thomas Aquinas
The face
The background
- Nationality:
- Italian
- Schools:
- Scholasticism, Thomism, Aristotelianism, Theological intellectualism, Moderate realism, Virtue ethics, Natural law, Correspondence theory of truth
- Period:
- Medieval philosophy
The synopsis
Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, theologian, and philosopher. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Catholic theology and Western philosophy. Thomas was a proponent of natural theology and the father of a school of thought known as Thomism. He argued that God is the source of the light of natural reason and the light of faith. He embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle and sought to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. Thomas's best-known work is the unfinished Summa Theologica, or Summa Theologiae (1265–1274), which is a comprehensive guide to the theology of the Catholic Church.
The works
The quotes
If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.
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.
It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.
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.
Love is a binding force, by which another is joined to me and cherished by myself.
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.
It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.
Perfection of moral virtue does not wholly take away the passions, but regulates them.
Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.
All that is true, by whomsoever it has been said has its origin in the Spirit.
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.
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.
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.
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.
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.
Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.
Law; an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments.
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.
Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.
If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way.
Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church.
To live well is to work well, to show a good activity.
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.
It is necessary to posit something which is necessary of itself, and has no cause of its necessity outside of itself but is the cause of necessity in other things. And all people call this thing God.