Thomas Aquinas quotes - page 6

It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills. (Thomas Aquinas)
Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
There is but one Church in which men find salvation, just as outside the ark of Noah it was not possible for anyone to be saved. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Love is a binding force, by which another is joined to me and cherished by myself. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Moral science is better occupied when treating of friendship than of justice. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Three things are necessary for man to be saved: knowledge of what is to be believed, knowledge of what is to be desired, and knowledge of what is to be done. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
The law of nature [...] is nothing other than the light of the intellect planted in us by God, by which we know what should be done and what should be avoided. God gave us this light or law in creation. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Obedience unites us so closely to God that it in a way transforms us into Him, so that we have no other will but His. If obedience is lacking, even prayer cannot be pleasing to God. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
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. (Thomas Aquinas)
The soul is like an uninhabited world that comes to life only when God lays His head against us. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
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. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory, Of His Flesh the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our immortal King. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
There does not fall under the scope of God's omnipotence anything that implies a contradiction. Now that the past should not have been implies a contradiction.... Whence, that the past should not have been, does not come under the scope of divine power. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
The study of truth requires a considerable effort - which is why few are willing to undertake it out of love of knowledge - despite the fact that God has implanted a natural appetite for such knowledge in the minds of men. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Of these the first is "melting," which is opposed to freezing. For things that are frozen, are closely bound together, so as to be hard to pierce. But it belongs to love that the appetite is fitted to receive the good which is loved, inasmuch as the object loved is in the lover...Consequently the freezing or hardening of the heart is a disposition incompatible with love: while melting denotes a softening of the heart, whereby the heart shows itself to be ready for the entrance of the beloved. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
On the contrary, The demons are ever assailing us, according to 1 Peter 5:8: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour." Much more therefore do the good angels ever guard us. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
God alone can satisfy the will of a human being. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Therefore they will wish all the good were damned. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Thus Angels' Bread is made The Bread of man today: The Living Bread from Heaven With figures doth away. (Thomas Aquinas)
Law is nothing other than a certain ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by the person who has the care of the community. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
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. View quote
Thomas Aquinas
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. View quote
Thomas Aquinas