Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses.

Nihil est in intellectu quod non sit prius in sensu.

Thomas Aquinas

Philosophers

Thomas Aquinas

Born c. 1225 near Roccasecca in southern Italy, Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican friar and the greatest theologian-philosopher of the medieval period. In his magnum opus Summa Theologica he systematically integrated Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology, representing the summit of Scholasticism. His Five Ways for demonstrating God's existence and his natural-law theory remain foundational in Catholic thought. He holds the title Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor) of the Church.

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Source: De Veritate (真理論), q.2, a.3, arg.19Verified

Thomas Aquinas's Other Quotes

Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.

Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver.

Good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.

I fear the man of a single book.

Man cannot naturally will the good except under the aspect of the good.

Related Quotes

For thinking and Being are the same.

-- Parmenides

You must learn all things: both the steadfast heart of well-rounded Truth and the opinions of mortals, in which there is no true trust.

-- Parmenides

Imagine prisoners chained underground since childhood, seeing only shadows on a wall and taking them for reality.

-- Plato

I know that I know nothing.

-- Socrates

Color exists by convention, sweet by convention, bitter by convention; in reality there are only atoms and void.

-- Democritus

Those who understand that things arise dependently know them to be empty.

-- Nagarjuna