18 May: Quotes by Thomas Aquinas, Italian Theologian

Thomas Aquinas was a medieval philosopher, theologian, and scholar who is widely considered one of the most influential thinkers in Western intellectual history. He lived from 1225-1274 and was born into a noble family in Roccasecca, Italy. Aquinas's life was marked by a deep commitment to both reason and faith, and his work had a profound impact on the development of Western philosophy and theology.

Aquinas's greatest intellectual achievement is his massive work, the Summa Theologica. The Summa is a comprehensive examination of Christian doctrine and philosophy, and it is widely regarded as one of the most important works in Western intellectual history. The Summa is organized as a series of questions and answers, covering topics ranging from the nature of God and the human soul to the morality of human actions and the sacraments of the Church.

One of Aquinas's most significant contributions to philosophy is his concept of natural law. Natural law is the idea that there are certain universal principles of morality that can be known through reason alone. These principles are grounded in the natural order of things and are accessible to all human beings. Aquinas's understanding of natural law has had a lasting impact on Western legal and political thought.

Aquinas's impact on Western intellectual history cannot be overstated. His commitment to reason and faith, his defense of natural law, and his exploration of the nature of God and the human soul continue to shape philosophical and theological inquiry today. He remains a towering figure in the history of Western thought, and his influence will be felt for centuries to come.

 

---

Quotes by Thomas Aquinas

• Beware of the person of one book.
• Wonder is the desire for knowledge.
• Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.
• Well-ordered self-love is right and natural.
• The things that we love tell us what we are.
• Reason in man is rather like God in the world.
• To live well is to work well, to show a good activity.
• A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.
• Not everything that is more difficult is more meritorious.
• Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.
• To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.
• Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.
• Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.
• By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments.
• There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.
• Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.
• Whatever is received is received according to the nature of the recipient.
• Human salvation demands the divine disclosure of truths surpassing reason.
• Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will.
• All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.

 

---

 

For more quotes, visit my Wordpress Blog:
https://successlifequotes.wordpress.com