110+ Thomas Aquinas Quotes On Faith, God And Soul

Thomas Aquinas was an Italian theologian and philosopher who lived in the 13th century. He is best known for his writings on philosophy and theology, including the Summa Theologica, which is considered one of the greatest works of medieval scholasticism. He is also remembered for his influential synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy and Christian theology, which is known as Thomism. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Thomas Aquinas on faith, god, love.

Top 10 Thomas Aquinas Quotes

1. The things that we love tell us what we are.
2. Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures.
3. We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it.
4. If you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.
5. How can we live in harmony? First we need to know we are all madly in love with the same God.
6. To pretend angels do not exist because they are invisible is to believe we never sleep because we don't see ourselves sleeping.
7. Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.
8. Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.
9. If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way.
10. If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.

Thomas Aquinas Image Quotes

Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine. — Thomas Aquinas

To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them. — Thomas Aquinas

Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will. — Thomas Aquinas

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Short Quotes

• To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.
• Miracles are signs not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.
• Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will.
• Whatever a man has in superabundance is owed, of natural right, to the poor for their sustenance.
• Without sanctifying grace it is not possible to refrain long from mortal sin.
• Not everything that is more difficult is more meritorious.
• Better to illuminate than merely to shine.
• One cannot use an evil action with reference to a good intention.
• Mercy without justice is the mother of dissolution; justice without mercy is cruelty.
• Sin is a spiritual illness; thus sinners are in need of salvation.

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Faith

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. — Thomas Aquinas

To love God is something greater than to know Him. — Thomas Aquinas

All my words are but chaff next to the faith of a simple man. — Thomas Aquinas

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. — Thomas Aquinas

The proper effect of the Eucharist is the transformation of man into God. — Thomas Aquinas

Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church. — Thomas Aquinas

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. — Thomas Aquinas

The apostles and their successors are God's vicars in governing the Church which is built on faith and the sacraments of faith. Wherefore, just as they may not institute another Church, so neither may they deliver another faith, nor institute other sacraments. — Thomas Aquinas

The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion. — Thomas Aquinas

The truth of our faith becomes a matter of ridicule among the infidels if any Catholic, not gifted with the necessary scientific learning, presents as dogma what scientific scrutiny shows to be false. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About God

When the devil is called the god of this world, it is not because he made it, but because we serve him with our worldliness. — Thomas Aquinas

The theologian considers sin mainly as an offence against God; the moral philosopher as contrary to reasonableness. — Thomas Aquinas

True peace consists in not separating ourselves from the will of God. — Thomas Aquinas

We set forth our petitions before God, not in order to make known to Him our needs and desires, but rather so that we ourselves may realize that in these things it is necessary to turn to God for help. — Thomas Aquinas

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

We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides. — Thomas Aquinas

Whenever God wakes in us, our thinking becomes clear - nothing is missing. — Thomas Aquinas

The knowledge of God is the cause of things. For the knowledge of God is to all creatures what the knowledge of the artificer is to things made by his art. — Thomas Aquinas

Concerning perfect blessedness which consists in a vision of God. — Thomas Aquinas

It [covetousness] is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Love

Love is a binding force, by which another is joined to me and cherished by myself. — Thomas Aquinas

Love takes up where knowledge leaves off. — Thomas Aquinas

The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life. — Thomas Aquinas

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. — Thomas Aquinas

Well-ordered self-love is right and natural. — Thomas Aquinas

In the realm of evil thoughts none induces to sin as much as do thoughts that concern the pleasure of the flesh. — Thomas Aquinas

Love works in a circle, for the beloved moves the lover by stamping a likeness, and the lover then goes out to hold the beloved inreality. Who first was the beginning now becomes the end of motion. — Thomas Aquinas

It would seem that zeal is not an effect of love. For zeal is a beginning of contention. — Thomas Aquinas

Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship. — Thomas Aquinas

No man truly has joy unless he lives in love. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Soul

There is within every soul a thirst for happiness and meaning. — Thomas Aquinas

Far graver is it to corrupt the faith that is the life of the soul than to counterfeit the money that sustains temporal life. — Thomas Aquinas

The splendor of a soul in grace is so seductive that it surpasses the beauty of all created things. — Thomas Aquinas

The servants of God...whether provoked by word or work, by keeping themselves tranquil and peaceful, evince a perfect nobleness of soul. — Thomas Aquinas

The soul, which is the first principle of life, is not a body, but the act of a body; just as heat, which is the principle of calefaction, is not a body, but an act of a body. — Thomas Aquinas

The soul is like an uninhabited world that comes to life only when God lays His head against us. — Thomas Aquinas

The soul is perfected by knowledge and virtue. — Thomas Aquinas

The image of God always abides in the soul, whether this image be obsolete and clouded over as to amount to almost nothing; or whether it be obscured or disfigured, as is the case with sinners; or whether it be clear and beautiful as is the case with the just. — Thomas Aquinas

The soul is known by it's acts. — Thomas Aquinas

He that obstinately denieth the truth before men upon earth, wilfully refuseth his soul's health in heaven. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Beauty

To virginity is awarded the tribute of the highest beauty — Thomas Aquinas

Characteristics which define beauty are wholeness, harmony and radiance. — Thomas Aquinas

Beauty adds to goodness a relation to the cognitive faculty: so that "good" means that which simply pleases the appetite; while the "beautiful" is something pleasant to apprehend. — Thomas Aquinas

One will observe that all things are arranged according to their degrees of beauty and excellence, and that the nearer they are to God, the more beautiful and better they are. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Knowledge

We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves. — Thomas Aquinas

There is, therefore, a more perfect intellectual life in the angels. In them the intellect does not proceed to self-knowledge from anything exterior, but knows itself through itself. — Thomas Aquinas

Arrive at knowledge over small streamlets, and do not plunge immediately into the ocean, since progress must go from the easier to the more difficult. — Thomas Aquinas

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

Love follows knowledge. — Thomas Aquinas

Wonder is the desire for knowledge. — Thomas Aquinas

A scrap of knowledge about sublime things is worth more than any amount about trivialities. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Death

The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross. — Thomas Aquinas

If forgers and malefactors are put to death by the secular power, there is much more reason for excommunicating and even putting to death one convicted of heresy. — Thomas Aquinas

The fact that the evil ones, as long as they live, can be corrected from their errors does not prohibit that they may be justly executed, for the danger which threatens from their way of life is greater and more certain than the good which may be expected from their improvement. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Friendship

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. — Thomas Aquinas

Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious. — Thomas Aquinas

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

Moral science is better occupied when treating of friendship than of justice. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Reason

In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance. — Thomas Aquinas

Human salvation demands the divine disclosure of truths surpassing reason. — Thomas Aquinas

A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational. — Thomas Aquinas

Law; an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community. — Thomas Aquinas

Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason. — Thomas Aquinas

God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason. — Thomas Aquinas

A man should remind himself that an object of faith is not scientifically demonstrable, lest presuming to demonstrate what is of faith, he should produce inconclusive reasons and offer occasion for unbelievers to scoff at a faith based on such ground. — Thomas Aquinas

For just as the first general precepts of the law of nature are self-evident to one in possession of natural reason, and have no need of promulgation, so also that of believing in God is primary and self-evident to one who has faith: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is. — Thomas Aquinas

Reason in man is rather like God in the world. — 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. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Mind

It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes. — Thomas Aquinas

Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion. — Thomas Aquinas

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. — Thomas Aquinas

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. — Thomas Aquinas

Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality. — Thomas Aquinas

Justice is a certain rectitude of mind whereby a man does what he ought to do in the circumstances confronting him. — Thomas Aquinas

All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly. — Thomas Aquinas

Sloth is sluggishness of the mind which neglects to begin good...it is evil in its effect, if it so oppresses man as to draw him away entirely from good deeds. — Thomas Aquinas

The human mind may perceive truth only through thinking, as is clear from Augustine. — Thomas Aquinas

A song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Live

He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust. — Thomas Aquinas

To live well is to work well, to show a good activity. — Thomas Aquinas

There can be no joy in living without joy in work. — Thomas Aquinas

"The Jews should not be allowed to keep what they have obtained from others by usury; it were best that they were compelled to worked so that they could earn their living instead of doing nothing but becoming avaricious." — Thomas Aquinas

It is necessary for the perfection of human society that there should be men who devote their lives to contemplation. — Thomas Aquinas

The minister to whom confession is made is the delegate of Christ, Who is the Judge of the living and the dead. — Thomas Aquinas

Thus Angels' Bread is made The Bread of man today: The Living Bread from Heaven With figures doth away: O wondrous gift indeed! The poor and lowly may Upon their Lord and Master feed. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Quotes About Work

For in order that man may do well, whether in the works of the active life, or in those of the contemplative life, he needs the fellowship of friends. — Thomas Aquinas

Three conditions are necessary for Penance: contrition, which is sorrow for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works. — Thomas Aquinas

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. — 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. — 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. — Thomas Aquinas

Faith is God's work within us. — 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. — Thomas Aquinas

One aspect of neighbourly love is that we must not merely will our neighbours good, but actually work to bring it about. — Thomas Aquinas

Art is right reason in the doing of work. — Thomas Aquinas

Those who are more adapted to the active life can prepare themselves for contemplation in the practice of the active life, while those who are more adapted to the contemplative life can take upon themselves the works of the active life so as to become yet more apt for contemplation. — Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas Famous Quotes And Sayings

Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine. — Thomas Aquinas

Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do. — Thomas Aquinas

Fear is such a powerful emotion for humans that when we allow it to take us over, it drives compassion right out of our hearts. — Thomas Aquinas

Whatever a man has in superabundance is owed, of natural right, to the poor for their sustenance. So Ambrosius says, and it is also to be found in the Decretum Gratiani: The bread which you withhold belongs to the hungry: the clothing you shut away, to the naked: and the money you bury in the earth is the redemption and freedom of the penniless. — 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. — Thomas Aquinas

Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will. — Thomas Aquinas

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. — Thomas Aquinas

Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder. — Thomas Aquinas

Of all the pursuits open to men, the search for wisdom is most perfect, more sublime, more profitable, and more full of joy. — Thomas Aquinas

The Cross to me is certain salvation. The Cross is that which I ever adore. The Cross of the Lord is with me. The Cross is my refuge. — Thomas Aquinas

Angels transcend every religion, every philosophy, every creed. In fact Angels have no religion as we know it... Their existence precedes every religious system that has ever existed on Earth. — Thomas Aquinas

To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin. — Thomas Aquinas

Every judgement of conscience, be it right or wrong, be it about things evil in themselves or morally indifferent, is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins. — Thomas Aquinas

Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches. — Thomas Aquinas

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

The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them. — Thomas Aquinas

By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments. — Thomas Aquinas

Jesus Lord, kind Pelican, Cleanse my filth with Thy blood, One drop of which can save The whole world from all its sin — Thomas Aquinas

Perfection of moral virtue does not wholly take away the passions, but regulates them. — Thomas Aquinas

Beware of the person of one book. — Thomas Aquinas

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

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

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. — Thomas Aquinas

Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good. — Thomas Aquinas

The world of pure spirits stretches between the divine nature and the world of human beings; because divine wisdom has ordained that the higher should look after the lower, angels execute the divine plan for human salvation: they are our guardians, who free us when hindered and help to bring us home. — Thomas Aquinas

The celestial bodies are the cause of all that takes place in the sublunar world. — Thomas Aquinas

Just as a man cannot live in the flesh unless he is born in the flesh, even so a man cannot have the spiritual life of grace unless he is born again spiritually. This regeneration is effected by Baptism: "Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (Jn 3:5) — Thomas Aquinas

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

Baptism is the door of the spiritual life and the gateway to the sacraments. — Thomas Aquinas

The blessed in the kingdom of heaven will see the punishments of the damned, in order that their bliss be more delightful for them. — Thomas Aquinas

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

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

Whatever was in the human nature of Christ was moved at the bidding of the divine will; yet it does not follow that in Christ there was no movement of the will proper to human nature, for the good wills of other saints are moved by God's will... For although the will cannot be inwardly moved by any creature, yet it can be moved inwardly by God. — Thomas Aquinas

That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell. — Thomas Aquinas

If someone knows from experience that daily Communion increases fervor without lessening reverence, then let him go every day. But if someone finds that reverence is lessened and devotion not much increased, then let him sometimes abstain, so as to draw near afterwards with better dispositions. — Thomas Aquinas

Because of the diverse conditions of humans, it happens that some acts are virtuous to some people, as appropriate and suitable to them, while the same acts are immoral for others, as inappropriate to them. — Thomas Aquinas

As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active power of the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of a woman comes from defect in the active power. — Thomas Aquinas

A man does not always choose what his guardian angel intends. — Thomas Aquinas

Life Lessons by Thomas Aquinas

1. Thomas Aquinas taught that reason and faith should be balanced in order to understand the world and make ethical decisions. This encourages us to think critically and to consider both sides of an issue before making a judgement.
2. He also emphasised the importance of humility and moderation, advocating for a life of simplicity and contemplation.
3. Finally, Aquinas believed that the pursuit of knowledge is essential to finding true happiness, encouraging us to strive for understanding and wisdom.