Svatý Tomáš Akvinský citáty

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„Nič nie je cennejšie na tejto zemi ako skutočné priateľstvo.“

„Láska je priateľstvo človeka s Bohom.“

„Posledný cieľ človeka je tam, odkiaľ vyšlo prvé dobro.“

„Voči pochybovačom a neveriacim mám dôkaz, ktorý nikdy nemôžu odsunúť stranou: ešte sa nestalo, žeby niekto na smrteľnej posteli oľutoval, že bol kresťanom.“

„Boh má právo nielen na vonkajší kult, ale aj - a na prvom mieste - na vnútorný kult viery, nádeje a lásky.“

„Láska nepozná hranice v raste, pretože má účasť na nekonečnej láske, ktorý je Duch Svätý.“

„Kto je dokonalý v láske, je dokonalý v duchovnom živote.“

„LÁSKA – LÁSKA JE CESTA, PO KTOREJ SA DOSTANEME NAJBLIŽŠIE K BOHU.“

„Pokiaľ milujem dobro len pre svoje potešenie, je to láska dychtivá, keď ma láka úžitok z nejakého dobra, je to láska užitočná a ak milujem pre jeho hodnotu bez ohľadu na osobné výhody je to láska priateľská.“

„Kristus je nazývaný Baránkom trojmo: pre čistotu života, pre tichosť smrti a pre zničenie hriechov.“

„O čo je nazeranie niečím vyšším než činný život, o to ako sa zdá, činí pre Boha viac ten, kto dobrovoľne obmedzí svoje milované nazeranie, aby kvôli Bohu slúžil blahu blížneho.“

„V činnom živote s mnohými povinnosťami je menej blaženosti, než v rozjímavom živote, ktorý sa zaoberá jedným, tj. nazeraním na pravdu.“

„Bože, daj mi pokojnú myseľ, aby som prijal veci, ktoré zmeniť nemôžem. Daj mi silu, aby som zmenil veci, ktoré zmeniť môžem. A daj mi múdrosť, aby som rozlíšil jedno od druhého.“

„Žena je nepodarený muž.“

„Nádej má štyri predpoklady: dobro, neľahké, budúce, možné.“

„Ukážte sa vždy príjemnými a láskavými bez toho, aby ste sa priveľmi niekomu zdôverili, pretože za prílišnou dôverou nasleduje pohrdnutie.“

„Je dokonalejšie svietiť ako svetlo len vidieť.“

„Daň - dovolený prípad lúpeže.“

„Boh stvoril dokonalý svet, zlo nepochádza od Boha, nemá vlastnú skutočnosť, je len nedostatkom dobra.“

„Pane môj, osvieť moju myseľ a pamäť, aby som ti mohol rozumieť. A pomôž mi, aby som to, čo som od teba dostal, mohol rozumne a jasne podávať ďalej iným.“

„Rozum vlastní nebezpečné, otravné ostne, ktoré mu treba nebadane vytiahnuť a potom ho už možno zapojiť do služieb viery.“

„Svätosť nespočíva vo veľkom poznaní, vo veľkom rozjímaní či vo veľkom premýšľaní. Tajomstvom svätosti je veľmi milovať.“

„Svätosť je to, čím myseľ človeka seba a svoje úkony spojuje s Bohom.“

„Tam, kde je duchovné poznanie, je aj slobodná vôľa.“

„Oveľa väčšiu zásluhu má ten, kto verí bez toho, žeby videl, než ten, kto vidiac verí.“

„Jedine Bohu je známy počet vyvolených. Niektorí hovoria, že bude spasených toľko ľudí, koľko padlo anjelov.
St. TA I q. 23 a 7.“

„Viera stojí nad rozumom.“

„Všetky bytosti sa domáhajú dobra, no nie všetky poznávajú pravdu.“

„Pre človeka je prirodzené, že zmyslami dosahuje duchovné poznanie.“

„Almužna oslobodzuje živých od smrteľného hriechu, totiž uchránením a uspôsobením k milosti.“

„Človek nemôže vyčkávať so založenými rukami. Božie kráľovstvo je ako šíre more - treba nám rozprestrieť siete. Je ako vzácna perla - ale túto perlu musíme nájsť my. Božie kráľovstvo je ako skrytý poklad - no my ho máme vykopať.“

„Sudca má súdiť podľa dokladov a dôkazov, hoci i proti pravde, ktorú sa dozvie ako súkromná osoba.“

„Radosť značí živočíšne potešenie a to najviac vábi k zraku. Ale potešenie prirodzené - zmyslové, najviac patrí hmatu.
St. TA II/I q. 31 a.6“

„Blažení, ktorí budú v sláve nebudú mať súcit so zavrhnutými.“

„Ak sú kacíri úplne vykorenení smrťou, neprotirečí to príkazom Nášho Pána.“

„Byť vďačný znamená priznať, že sme získali dobrodenie, pamätať naň, vyjadriť slová uznania, a pokiaľ možno, odvďačiť sa skutkom.“

“Rarely affirm, seldom deny, always distinguish.”

“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.”

“Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.”

“There must be must be a first mover existing above all – and this we call God.”

“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.”

“Faith has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that are not in hand.”

“Obedience unites us so closely to God that it in a way transforms us into Him, so that we have no other will but His.
If obedience is lacking, even prayer cannot be pleasing to God.”

“The happy man in this life needs friends.”

“The study of truth requires a considerable effort - which is why few are willing to undertake it out of love of knowledge - despite the fact that God has implanted a natural appetite for such knowledge in the minds of men.”

“It is not theft, properly speaking, to take secretly and use another's property in a case of extreme need: because that which he takes for the support of his life becomes his own property by reason of that need”

“A hymn is the praise of God with song; a song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice.”

“Man has free choice, or otherwise counsels, exhortations, commands, prohibitions, rewards and punishments would be in vain.”

“Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship.”

“But if man's affection be one of passion, then it is moved also in regard to other animals: for since the passion of pity is caused by the afflictions of others; and since it happens that even irrational animals are sensible to pain, it is possible for the affection of pity to arise in a man with regard to the sufferings of animals. Now it is evident that if a man practice a pitiful affection for animals, he is all the more disposed to take pity on his fellow-men: wherefore it is written (Prov. 12:10): "The just regardeth the lives of his beasts: but the bowels of the wicked are cruel." Consequently the Lord, in order to inculcate pity to the Jewish people, who were prone to cruelty, wished them to practice pity even with regard to dumb animals, and forbade them to do certain things savoring of cruelty to animals. Hence He prohibited them to "boil a kid in the milk of its dam"; and to "muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn"; and to slay "the dam with her young."”

“To be united to God in unity of person was not fitting to human flesh, according to its natural endowments, since it was above his dignity; nevertheless, it was fitting that God, by reason of his infinite goodness, should unite it to himself for human salvation.”

“The greatness of the human being consists in this: that it is capable of the universe.”

“Baptism is the door of the spiritual life and the gateway to the sacraments.”

“It is on account neither of God's weakness nor ignorance that evil comes into the world, but rather it is due to the order of his wisdom and the greatness of his goodness that diverse grades of goodness occur in things, many of which would be lacking if no evil were permitted. Indeed, the good of patience would not exist without the evil of persecution; nor the good of preservation of life in a lion if not for the evil of the destruction of the animals on which it lives.”

“I answer that, It was necessary for woman to be made, as the Scripture says, as a "helper" to man; not, indeed, as a helpmate in other works, as some say, since man can be more efficiently helped by another man in other works; but as a helper in the work of generation. This can be made clear if we observe the mode of generation carried out in various living things. Some living things do not possess in themselves the power of generation, but are generated by some other specific agent, such as some plants and animals by the influence of the heavenly bodies, from some fitting matter and not from seed: others possess the active and passive generative power together; as we see in plants which are generated from seed; for the noblest vital function in plants is generation. Wherefore we observe that in these the active power of generation invariably accompanies the passive power. Among perfect animals the active power of generation belongs to the male sex, and the passive power to the female. And as among animals there is a vital operation nobler than generation, to which their life is principally directed; therefore the male sex is not found in continual union with the female in perfect animals, but only at the time of coition; so that we may consider that by this means the male and female are one, as in plants they are always united; although in some cases one of them preponderates, and in some the other. But man is yet further ordered to a still nobler vital action, and that is intellectual operation. Therefore there was greater reason for the distinction of these two forces in man; so that the female should be produced separately from the male; although they are carnally united for generation. Therefore directly after the formation of woman, it was said: "And they shall be two in one flesh"”

“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.”

“Yet if heretics be altogether uprooted by death, this is not contrary to Our Lord's command [in Matthew 13:30], which is to be understood as referring to the case when the cockle [weeds] cannot be plucked up without plucking up the wheat, as we explained above (10, 8, ad 1), when treating of unbelievers in general.”

“Reason may be employed in two ways to establish a point: firstly, for the purpose of furnishing sufficient proof of some principle, as in natural science, where sufficient proof can be brought to show that the movement of the heavens is always of uniform velocity. Reason is employed in another way, not as furnishing a sufficient proof of a principle, but as confirming an already established principle, by showing the congruity of its results, as in astrology the theory of eccentrics and epicycles is considered as established, because thereby the sensible appearances of the heavenly movements can be explained; not, however, as if this proof were sufficient, forasmuch as some other theory might explain them.”

“All that I have written seems like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me.”

“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 force or from some material indisposition, or even from some external influence…On the other hand, as regards human nature in general, woman is not misbegotten, but is included in nature's intention as directed to the work of generation. Now the general intention of nature depends on God, Who is the universal Author of nature. Therefore, in producing nature, God formed not only the male but also the female.”

“Natural inclinations are present in things from God, who moves all things. So it is impossible for the natural inclinations of a species to be toward evil in itself. But there is in all perfect animals a natural inclination toward carnal union. Therefore it is impossible for carnal union to be evil in itself.”

“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.”

“Suppose a person entering a house were to feel heat on the porch, and going further, were to feel the heat increasing, the more they penetrated within. Doubtless, such a person would believe there was a fire in the house, even though they did not see the fire that must be causing all this heat. A similar thing will happen to anyone who considers this world in detail: 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.”

“It is written (1 John 4:16): "He that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him." Now charity is the love of God. Therefore, for the same reason, every love makes the beloved to be in the lover, and vice versa… the beloved is said to be in the lover, inasmuch as the beloved abides in the apprehension of the lover, according to Philippians 1:7, "For that I have you in my heart": while the lover is said to be in the beloved, according to apprehension, inasmuch as the lover is not satisfied with a superficial apprehension of the beloved, but strives to gain an intimate knowledge of everything pertaining to the beloved, so as to penetrate into his very soul.”

“The third principle [way doing good to another may give pleasure] is the motive: for instance when a man is moved by one whom he loves, to do good to someone: for whatever we do or suffer for a friend is pleasant, because love is the principal cause of pleasure.”