Thomas Aquinas Quotes
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The celestial bodies are the cause of all that takes place in the sublunar world.
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One faith, St. Paul writes (Eph. 4:5). Hold most firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church ... We must hold this for certain, namely: that the faith of the people at the present day is one with the faith of the people in past centuries. Were this not true, then we would be in a different church than they were in and, literally, the Church would not be One.
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The proper task of the Savior is that he is a savior; indeed, for this he came into the world: to seek and save what was lost.
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God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason.
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To love is to will the good of the other.
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Law has the power to compel: indeed, the ability to enforce is a condition of the ability to command.
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The magnitude of the punishment matches the magnitude of the sin. Now a sin that is against God is infinite; the higher the person against whom it is committed, the graver the sin-it is more criminal to strike a head of state than a private citizen-and God is of infinite greatness. Therefore an infinite punishment is deserved for a sin committed against Him.
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If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.
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Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.
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The light of faith makes us see what we believe.
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Without sanctifying grace it is not possible to refrain long from mortal sin.
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The meaning of what is said is according to the motive for saying it: because things are not subject to speech, but speech to things. Therefore we should take account of the motive of the lawgiver, rather than of his very words.
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To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.
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All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.
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By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments.
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Mary means Star of the sea, for as mariners are guided to port by the ocean star, so Christians attain to glory through Mary's maternal intercession.
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I receive Thee ransom of my soul. For love of Thee have I studied and kept vigil toiled preached and taught.
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In questions of this sort there are two things to be observed. First, that the truth of the Scriptures be inviolably maintained. Secondly, since Scripture doth admit of diverse interpretations, that no one cling to any particular exposition with such pertinacity that, if what he supposed to be the teaching of Scripture should afterward turn out to be clearly false, he should nevertheless still presume to put it forward, lest thereby the sacred Scriptures should be exposed to the derision of unbelievers and the way of salvation should be closed to them.
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An angel can illumine the thought and mind of man by strengthening the power of vision and by bringing within his reach some truth which the angel himself contemplates.
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Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.
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To restore man, who had been laid low by sin, to the heights of divine glory, the Word of the eternal Father, though containing all things within His immensity, willed to become small. This He did not by putting aside His greatness but by taking to Himself our littleness.
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It covetousness is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things.
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Beauty adds to goodness a relation to the cognitive faculty: so that "good" means that which simply pleases the appetite; while the "beautiful" is something pleasant to apprehend.
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Sing, my tongue, the Saviour's glory, Of His Flesh, the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world's redemption, From a noble Womb to spring.