St. Thomas Aquinas Quotes
Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution; justice without mercy is cruelty.
God himself would not permit evil in this world if good did not come of it for the benefit and harmony of the universe.
The theologian considers sin mainly as an offence against God; the moral philosopher as contrary to reasonableness.
The soul is like an uninhabited world that comes to life only when God lays His head against us.
The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life.
How is it they live in such harmony the billions of stars - when most men can barely go a minute without declaring war in their minds about someone they know.
The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them.
Because we cannot know what God is, but only what He is not, we cannot consider how He is but only how He is not.
Bestow upon me, O Lord my God, understanding to know thee, diligence to seek thee, wisdom to find thee, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace thee.
Peace is the work of justice indirectly, in so far as justice removes the obstacles to peace; but it is the work of charity (love) directly, since charity, according to its very notion, causes peace.
Law; an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community.
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.
Prostitution in the towns is like the cesspool in the palace; take away the cesspool and the palace will become an unclean and evil smelling-place.
The test of the artist does not lie in the will with which he goes to work, but in the excellence of the work he produces.
Law has the power to compel: indeed, the ability to enforce is a condition of the ability to command.
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.
The highest perfection of human life consists in the mind of man being detached from care, for the sake of God.
Jesus Lord, kind Pelican, Cleanse my filth with Thy blood, One drop of which can save The whole world from all its sin
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.
Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.
Pray thee, spare, thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.
Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail; Lo! o'er ancient forms departing, Newer rites of grace prevail; Faith for all defects supplying, Where the feeble senses fail.
Perfection of moral virtue does not wholly take away the passions, but regulates them.
The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing.
Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church.
