In a false person, sacraments do not produce any effect. Thomas Aquinas More Quotes by Thomas Aquinas More Quotes From Thomas Aquinas 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. Thomas Aquinas greatnessmenfather Devotion is a certain act of the will by which man gives himself promptly to divine service. Thomas Aquinas devotiongivingmen I answer that, Even, as in the blessed in heaven there will be most perfect charity, so in the damned there will be the most perfect hate. Thomas Aquinas inspirational-lifehateperfect 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 strawshas-beensgoes-on Don't ask who said it? Ask what they said. Thomas Aquinas wisdomsaidculture The things we love Thomas Aquinas who-we-are It is necessary for the perfection of human society that there should be men who devote their lives to contemplation. Thomas Aquinas contemplationperfectionmen 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. Thomas Aquinas writingpeoplepast Grace does not destroy nature, it perfects it. Thomas Aquinas gracedoe Without the suitable conditions life could not exist. But both life and its conditions set forth the operations of inscrutable Power. We know not its origin; we know not its end. And the presumption, if not the degradation, rests with those who place upon the throne of the universe a magnified image of themselves, and make its doings a mere colossal imitation of their own. Wonder was the motive that led people to philosophy ... wonder is a kind of desire in knowledge. It is the cause of delight because it carries with it the hope of discovery. Thomas Aquinas discoveryphilosophyknowledge Wonder [admiratio astonishment, marvel] is a kind of desire for knowledge. The situation arises when one sees an effect and does not know its cause, or when the cause of the particular effect is one that exceeds his power of understanding. Hence, wonder is a cause of pleasure insofar as there is annexed the hope of attaining understanding of that which one wants to know. ... For desire is especially aroused by the awareness of ignorance, and consequently a man takes the greatest pleasure in those things which he discovers for himself or learns from the ground up. Thomas Aquinas ignorancescienceknowledge Likewise grace and glory are referred to the same genus, since grace is nothing other than a certain first beginning of glory in us. Thomas Aquinas certainglorygrace You change people by delight, by pleasure. Thomas Aquinas delightchangepeople Man should not consider his material possession his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need. Thomas Aquinas aggravationpowerfulmen Better to illuminate than merely to shine. Thomas Aquinas contemplationcontemplatingshining Reason in man is rather like God in the world. Thomas Aquinas philosophicalmenknowledge If anyone without the right faith receives Baptism outside the Church, he does not receive it unto salvation ... From the comparison of the Church to Paradise, we learn that men can receive her Baptism even outside her fold, but that out there no one can receive or keep the salvation of the blessed. Thomas Aquinas baptismblessedmen Eternity is called whole, not because it has parts, but because it is lacking in nothing. Thomas Aquinas lackingeternitywhole 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. Thomas Aquinas catholicmenbelieve A person is disposed to an act of choice by an angel ... in two ways. Sometimes, a man's understanding is enlightened by an angel to know what is good, but it is not instructed as to the reason why ... But sometimes he is instructed by angelic illumination, both that this act is good and as to the reason why it is good. Thomas Aquinas illuminationangelmen
