Aquinas Quotes

“The main danger is that of supposing that the thing to do is get a mind on the scale of Thomas (Aquinas)’s into your head, a task of compression that will be achieved only at your head’s peril. The only safe thing to do is to find a way of getting your mind into his, wherein yours has room to expand and grow, and explore the worlds his contains.”

“If grass grows and withers, it can only mean that it is part of a greater thing, which is even more real; not that the grass is less real than it looks. St. Thomas (Aquinas) has a really logical right to say, in the words of the modern mystic, A. E.: "I begin by the grass to be bound again to the Lord.”

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

“The fact is, the great intellectuals of the western religious tradition from Augustine to Aquinas and Peter Abelard became philosophically dominant. The intellectual tradition was preserved. The great intellectuals of the Islamic tradition like Averroes and Avicenna became heretics whose influence disappeared under the weight of rote preaching and practice. Islam as a result has a moral code, a legalistic system of right and wrong, but no evolved ethical tradition.”

“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.”

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

“The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them.”

“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.”

“Wonder is the desire for knowledge.”