Thomas Aquinas Quotes
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It is necessary for the perfection of human society that there should be men who devote their lives to contemplation.
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Miracles are signs not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.
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He who is dying of hunger must be fed rather than taught.
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Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches.
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A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.
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Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship.
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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.
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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.
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All men are equal in nature, and also in original sin. It is in the merits and demerits of their actions that they differ.
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There is no leisure about politics.
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As the saints will rejoice in all goods, so will the damned grieve for all goods.
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Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.
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I cannot go on.... All that I have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.
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We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides.
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It is unlawful to add anything to the words of Holy Scripture regarding the sense.
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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.
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By the divine providence animals are intended for man's use... Hence it is not wrong for man to make use of them, either by killing or in any other way whatsoever.
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Natural inclinations are present in things from God, who moves all things. So it is impossible for the natural inclinations of a species to be toward evil in itself. But there is in all perfect animals a natural inclination toward carnal union. Therefore it is impossible for carnal union to be evil in itself.
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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.
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A man should remind himself that an object of faith is not scientifically demonstrable, lest presuming to demonstrate what is of faith, he should produce inconclusive reasons and offer occasion for unbelievers to scoff at a faith based on such ground.
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Good and evil are essential differences of the act of the will. For good and evil pertain essentially to the will; just as truth and falsehood pertain to the reason, the act of which is distinguished essentially by the difference of truth and falsehood (according as we say that an opinion is true or false.) Consequently, good and evil volition are acts differing in species.
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The minister to whom confession is made is the delegate of Christ, Who is the Judge of the living and the dead.
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Charity brings to life again those who are spiritually dead.
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Whatever a man has in superabundance is owed, of natural right, to the poor for their sustenance.