Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was one of the most important philosophers and theologians of the Catholic religion. He was born in 1225 in Roccaseca, a castle in the Frosinone province. His family was of noble origin. His parents were the Counts of Aquino, Landulf of Aquino and Donna Teodora Galluccio.
1: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
2: “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.”
3: “If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.”
4: “The things that we love tell us what we are.”
5: “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.”
6: “Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.”
7: “Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.”
8: “Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.”
9: “Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.”
10: “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.”
11: “A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.”
12: “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.”
13: “Beware of the person of one book.”
14: “Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures.”
15: “If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way.”
16: “It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.”
17: “All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.”
18: “In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary. First, the authority of the sovereign. Secondly, a just cause. Thirdly, a rightful intention.”
19: “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.”
20: “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.”