Quotes from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Nothing which implies contradiction falls under the omnipotence of God.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“The human mind may perceive truth only through thinking, as is clear from Augustine.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“God Himself is the rule and mode of virtue. Our faith is measured by divine truth, our hope by the greatness of His power and faithful affection, our charity by His goodness. His truth, power and goodness outreach any measure of reason. We can certainly never believe, trust or love God more than, or even as much as, we should. Extravagance is impossible. Here is no virtuous moderation, no measurable mean; the more extreme our activity, the better we are.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“I answer that, As Augustine says (De Moribus Eccl. vi), "the soul needs to follow something in order to give birth to virtue: this something is God: if we follow Him we shall live aright.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Thus the sun which possesses light perfectly, can shine by itself; whereas the moon which has the nature of light imperfectly, sheds only a borrowed light.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“to make peace either in oneself or among others, shows a man to be a follower of God,”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“The truth can be perceived only through thinking, as is proven by Augustine.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“In the old law, God was praised both with musical instruments, and human voices. But the church does not use musical instruments to praise God, lest she should seem to judaize.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Honor is due to God and to persons of great excellence as a sign of attestation of excellence already existing; not that honor makes them excellent.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“nothing can be known, save what is true;”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Pipes are not to be used for teaching, nor any artificial instruments, as the harp, or the like: but whatsoever will make the hearers good men.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“the intention of every man acting according to virtue is to follow the rule of reason, wherefore the intention of all the virtues is directed to the same end, so that all the virtues are connected together in the right reason of things to be done, viz. prudence,”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“The Philosopher, too, says of the wicked (Ethic. ix, 4) that "their soul is divided against itself . . . one part pulls this way, another that"; and afterwards he concludes, saying: "If wickedness makes a man so miserable, he should strain every nerve to avoid vice.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Hence it is written (Wis. 9:14): "The thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain." Thus man needs to be guarded by the angels. Reply”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Further, nothing, except sin, is contrary to an act of virtue. But war is contrary to peace. Therefore war is always a sin.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Jerome says (Ep. ad Nepot. lii): "Shun, as you would the plague, a cleric who from being poor has become wealthy, or who, from being a nobody has become a celebrity.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Now in matters of action the reason directs all things in view of the end:”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“If our opponent believes nothing of divine revelation, there is no longer any means of proving the articles of faith by reasoning, but only of answering his objections--if he has any--against faith. Since faith rests upon infallible truth, and since the contrary of a truth can never be demonstrated, it is clear that the arguments brought against faith cannot be demonstrations, but are difficulties that can be answered.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“I answer that, It was necessary for man's salvation that there should be a knowledge revealed by God besides philosophical science built up by human reason. Firstly, indeed, because man is directed to God, as to an end that surpasses the grasp of his reason: "The eye hath not seen, O God, besides Thee, what things Thou hast prepared for them that wait for Thee" (Is. 66: 4). But the end must first be known by men who are to direct their thoughts and actions to the end. Hence it was necessary for the salvation of man that certain truths which exceed human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation. Even as regards those truths about God which human reason could have discovered, it was necessary that man should be taught by a divine revelation; because the truth about God such as reason could discover, would only be known by a few, and”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“that after a long time, and with the admixture of many errors. Whereas man's whole salvation, which is in God, depends upon the knowledge of this truth. Therefore, in order that the salvation of men might be brought about more fitly and more surely, it was necessary that they should be taught divine truths by divine revelation. It was therefore necessary that besides philosophical science built up by reason, there should be a sacred science learned through revelation.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“For it is essential to opinion that we assent to one of two opposite assertions with fear of the other, so that our adhesion is not firm: to science it is essential to have firm adhesion with intellectual vision, for science possesses certitude which results from the understanding of principles: while faith holds a middle place, for it surpasses opinion in so far as its adhesion is firm, but falls short of science in so far as it lacks vision.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Hence it is predicated chiefly of the virtuous; then of the pleasant; and lastly of the useful.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus; as fire, which is the maximum heat, is the cause of all hot things. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Sciences are differentiated according to the various means through which knowledge is obtained. For the astronomer and the physicist both may prove the same conclusion: that the earth, for instance, is round: the astronomer by means of mathematics (i.e. abstracting from matter), but the physicist by means of matter itself. Hence there is no reason why those things which may be learned from philosophical science, so far as they can be known by natural reason, may not also be taught us by another science so far as they fall within revelation. Hence theology included in sacred doctrine differs in kind from that theology which is part of philosophy. SECOND ARTICLE [I, Q.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“The science of mathematics treats its object as though it were something abstracted mentally, whereas it is not abstract in reality.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

“Every practical science is concerned with human operations; as moral science is concerned with human acts, and architecture with buildings. But sacred doctrine is chiefly concerned with God, whose handiwork is especially man. Therefore it is not a practical but a speculative science.”
― Thomas Aquinas, quote from Summa Theologica, 5 Vols

About the author

Popular quotes

“ASK any wise man what he most desires and he will, more than likely, say "more wisdom.”
― Napoleon Hill, quote from Law of Success

“Avantika : I know you love me. Yes, you try to get me naked half of the time, but i love you for that too. you are my boyfriend and it's always great to have a boyfriend who gets turned on by a mere touch. Makes life a lot easier.”
― Durjoy Datta, quote from If It's Not Forever. It's Not Love.

“His voice was deep,
like a storm coming,
but gentle,
like the rain ending.”
― Katherine Applegate, quote from Home of the Brave

“Good enough is good enough. Perfect will make you a bit fat mess every time.”
― Rebecca Wells, quote from The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder

“...most things are right or wrong only in their backgrounds; few things are good or evil in themselves.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, quote from Citizen of the Galaxy

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.