Italian Dominican friar & priest (1225-1274)
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.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium
We ought to cherish the body. Our body's substance is not from an evil principle, as the Manicheans imagine, but from God. And therefore, we ought to cherish the body by the friendship of love, by which we love God.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Theologica
Baptism is the door of the spiritual life and the gateway to the sacraments.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Theologica
It must be said that charity can, in no way, exist along with mortal sin.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Quaestiones disputatae: De caritate
Sin is a spiritual illness; thus sinners are in need of salvation.
THOMAS AQUINAS
"Osanna filio David", The Academic Sermons
Charity is not a potency of the soul, because if it were it would be natural. Nor is it a passion, because it is not in a sensitive potency in which are all passions. Nor is it a habit, because a habit is removed with difficulty; charity, however, is easily lost through one act of mortal sin. Therefore charity is not something created in the soul.
THOMAS AQUINAS
On Charity
Law: an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Theologica
To love is to will the good of the other.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Theologica
Moreover, virtue is not concerned with the amount of pleasure experienced by the external sense, as this depends on the disposition of the body; what matters is how much the interior appetite is affected by that pleasure.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Theologica
It must be said that charity is, without a doubt, a virtue. Now since a virtue is that which makes its possessor good and renders his works good, it is clear that man is ordered to his proper good according to the proper virtue. But the proper good of man must be considerd in various ways, according as man is understood under various aspects. The proper good of man as man is the good of reason, in that to be a man is to be rational. But the good of man considered as an artist is the good of art; so also considered in his political character, his good is the common good of the state. Since virtue operates for good, it is necessary for virtue of any kind that it operate well for the good, i.e., voluntarily, readily, with delight and firmly. These are the conditions of virtuous operation which are not found in any operation unless the agent love the good for which he is working, because love is the principle of all the voluntary affective powers. For, that which is loved is desired when it is not possessed; there is pleasure when it is possessed; and those things which prevent one from having what has been loved cause sadness. Also, those things which are done out of love are done steadily, rapidly and with delight. Therefore love of the good, for which virtue operates, is necessary for virtue.
THOMAS AQUINAS
On Charity
The perfection of the effect demonstrates the perfection of the cause, for a greater power brings about a more perfect effect. But God is the most perfect agent. Therefore, things created by Him obtain perfection from Him. So, to detract from the perfection of creatures is to detract from the perfection of divine power.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Contra Gentiles
The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Theologica
If ... the motion of the earth were circular, it would be violent and contrary to nature, and could not be eternal, since ... nothing violent is eternal.... It follows, therefore, that the earth is not moved with a circular motion.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Commentaria in libros Aristotelis de caelo et mundo