Thomas Aquinas Quotes
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Just as in one man there is one soul and one body, yet many members; even so the Catholic Church is one body, having many members. The soul that quickens this body is the Holy Spirit; and therefore in the Creed after confessing our belief in the Holy Spirit, we are bid to believe in the Holy Catholic Church.
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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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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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Whatever was in the human nature of Christ was moved at the bidding of the divine will; yet it does not follow that in Christ there was no movement of the will proper to human nature, for the good wills of other saints are moved by God's will... For although the will cannot be inwardly moved by any creature, yet it can be moved inwardly by God.
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The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion.
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Every cell in us worships God.
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A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.
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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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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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Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship.
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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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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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As the saints will rejoice in all goods, so will the damned grieve for all goods.
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If you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.
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Man can sin against nature in two ways. First, when he sins against his specific rational nature, acting contrary to reason. In this sense, we can say that every sin is a sin against man's nature, because it is against man's right reason.
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All my words are but chaff next to the faith of a simple man.
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Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.
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It is unlawful to add anything to the words of Holy Scripture regarding the sense.
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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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The last end of every maker, as such, is himself, for what we make we use for our own sake; and if at any time a man make a thing for the sake of something else, it is referred to his own good, whether his use, his pleasure, or his virtue.
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Arrive at knowledge over small streamlets, and do not plunge immediately into the ocean, since progress must go from the easier to the more difficult.
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Give, expecting nothing there of.