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

Homo non potest naturaliter velle bonum nisi sub ratione boni.

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: Summa Theologica (神学大全), I-II, q.8, a.1Verified

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.

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

Related Quotes

There is no envy in the good.

-- Plato

It is not living that matters, but living rightly.

-- Socrates

No one desires evil.

-- Socrates

Evil, too, has its place within the scheme of the Good.

-- Plotinus

The good, in a word, is the realization of personality.

-- Kitarō Nishida

Ethics is the ground of being of human community — the way of aidagara (betweenness) between person and person.

-- Tetsuro Watsuji