1. Citations
  2. Auteurs
  3. Thomas d'Aquin

Thomas d'Aquin citations
Page 2

Thomas d'Aquin né vers 1224/1225 au château de Roccasecca près d'Aquino, dans la partie péninsulaire du Royaume de Sicile , mort le 7 mars 1274 à l'abbaye de Fossanova près de Priverno est un religieux de l'ordre dominicain, célèbre pour son œuvre théologique et philosophique. Considéré comme l'un des principaux maîtres de la philosophie scolastique et de la théologie catholique, il a été canonisé le 18 juillet 1323 par Jean XXII, puis proclamé docteur de l'Église par Pie V, en 1567 et patron des universités, écoles et académies catholiques, par Léon XIII en 1880. Il est également un des patrons des libraires. Il est aussi qualifié du titre de « Docteur angélique ». Son corps est conservé sous le maître-autel de l'église de l'ancien couvent des dominicains de Toulouse.

De son nom dérivent les termes :



« thomisme » / « thomiste » : concerne l'école ou le courant philosophico-théologique qui se réclame de Thomas d'Aquin et en développe les principes au-delà de la lettre de son expression historique initiale ;

« néothomisme » : courant de pensée philosophico-théologique de type thomiste, développé à partir du XIXe siècle pour répondre aux objections posées au christianisme catholique par la modernité ;

« thomasien » : ce qui relève de la pensée de Thomas d'Aquin lui-même, indépendamment des développements historiques induits par sa réception.En 1879, le pape Léon XIII, dans l'encyclique Æterni Patris, a déclaré que les écrits de Thomas d'Aquin exprimaient adéquatement la doctrine de l'Église. Le concile Vatican II propose l'interprétation authentique de l'enseignement des papes sur le thomisme en demandant que la formation théologique des prêtres se fasse « avec Thomas d'Aquin pour maître ».

Thomas d'Aquin a proposé, au XIIIe siècle, une œuvre théologique qui repose, par certains aspects, sur un essai de synthèse de la raison et de la foi, notamment lorsqu'il tente de concilier la pensée chrétienne et la philosophie d'Aristote, redécouvert par les scolastiques à la suite des traductions latines du XIIe siècle. Il distingue les vérités accessibles à la seule raison, de celles de la foi, définies comme une adhésion inconditionnelle à la Parole de Dieu. Il qualifie la philosophie de servante de la théologie afin d'exprimer comment les deux disciplines collaborent de manière « subalternée » à la recherche de la connaissance de la vérité, chemin vers la béatitude. Wikipedia  

✵ 25. janvier 1225 – 7. mars 1274  •  Autres noms Sv. Tomáš Akvinský, San Tommaso d'Aquino
Thomas d'Aquin photo
Thomas d'Aquin: 108 citations0 J'aime

Thomas d'Aquin citations célèbres

“Or chaque homme, par sa nature même, possède innée en lui la lumière de la raison qui dirige ses actes vers sa fin. Et s'il convenait à l'homme de vivre solitaire, comme il en va pour beaucoup d'animaux, cette lumière lui suffirait pour l'orienter vers sa fin; chacun serait à soi-même son roi, sous le règne suprême de Dieu, en tant que, par le don divin de la raison, il se dirigerait soi-même dans ses actes. Mais la nature de l'homme veut qu'il soit un animal social et politique, vivant en collectivité.”

Thomas d'Aquin

Du gouvernement royal

“En effet, il est plus beau d’éclairer que de briller seulement; de même est-il plus beau de transmettre aux autres ce qu’on a contemplé que de contempler seulement..”

Thomas d'Aquin

De l'enseignement

“Je vous reçois, ô salut de mon âme. C'est par amour de vous que j'ai étudié, veillé des nuits entières et que je me suis épuisé; c'est vous que j'ai prêché et enseigné. Jamais je n'ai dit un mot contre Vous. Je ne m'attache pas non plus obstinément à mon propre sens; mais si jamais je me suis mal exprimé sur ce sacrement, je me soumets au jugement de la sainte Église romaine dans l'obéissance de laquelle je meurs.”

Thomas d'Aquin

Ses derniers mots

Thomas d'Aquin: Citations en anglais

“I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it. I would hope to act with compassion without thinking of personal gain.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

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

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Source: Summa Contra Gentiles

“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”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on the Psalms http://dhspriory.org/thomas/english/PsalmsAquinas/ThoPs0.htm , Introduction

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

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

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

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Source: Quaestiones disputatae: De caritate (ca. 1270) http://dhspriory.org/thomas/QDdeVirtutibus2.htm#4

“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."”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

I-II, q. 102, art. 6 ad. 8
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

Source: Summa Theologica (1265–1274), III, q. 1, art. 2, ad 2

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

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Source: De Veritate (On Truth) q. 1, art. 2, ad 4

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

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

III, q.73, 3
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

De Potentia (On Power) q. 3, art. 6, ad 4

“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"”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

Gn. 2:24
I, q. 92, art. 1 (Whether the Woman should have been made in the first production of things?)
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Commentaria in libros Aristotelis de caelo et mundo

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

II–II, q. 11, art. 3, ad. 3
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

I, q. 32, art. 1, reply obj. 2
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

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

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Remarks on being requested to resume writing, after a mystical experience while saying mass on or around 6 December 1273, as quoted in A Taste of Water : Christianity through Taoist-Buddhist Eyes (1990) by Chwen Jiuan Agnes Lee and Thomas G. Hand
All that I have written seems like straw to me.
As quoted in The Thought of Thomas Aquinas (1993), by Brian Davies, p. 9
Everything I have written seems like straw by comparison with what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.
As quoted in Sacred Games : A History of Christian Worship (1997) by Bernhard Lang, p. 323
Original: (la) Raynalde, non possum, quia omnia quae scripsi videntur mihi palae.

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

I, q. 92, art. 1, ad 1
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Summa Contra Gentiles, III,126,3

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

II–II, q. 25, art. 5
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas

Sermon on the Apostles' Creed, 13-14

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

Source: Summa Theologica (1265–1274) I-II, q. 28, art. 2

“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.”

Help us translate this quote

Thomas Aquinas livre Summa Theologica

I-II, q. 32, art. 6
Summa Theologica (1265–1274)

Auteurs similaires

Mahomet photo
Mahomet6
prophète de l'islam None
Jean Pic de la Mirandole photo
Jean Pic de la Mirandole2
philosophe et théologien humaniste italien None
Christine de Pizan photo
Christine de Pizan5
philosophe et poétesse française d’origine italienne None
Ibn Khaldoun photo
Ibn Khaldoun7
philosophe, sociologue, historiographe et historien islamiq… None
Charlemagne photo
Charlemagne2
empereur d'Occident et roi des Francs None