“The greatness of the human being consists in this: that it is capable of the universe.”
Source: De Veritate (On Truth) q. 1, art. 2, ad 4
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Thomas Aquinas 104
Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catho… 1225–1274Related quotes
“Kia is capable of occult power because it is a fragment of the great life force of the universe.”
Source: Liber Null & Psychonaut (1987), p. 28
Context: Kia cannot be experienced directly because it is the basis of consciousness (or experience), and it has no fixed qualities which the mind can latch on to. Kia is the consciousness, it is the elusive "I" which confers self-awareness but does not seem to consist of anything itself. Kia can sometimes be felt as ecstasy or inspiration, but it is deeply buried in the dualistic mind. It is mostly trapped in the aimless wanderings of thought and in the identification with experience and in that cluster of opinions about ourselves called ego. Magic is concerned with giving the Kia more freedom and flexibility and with providing means by which it can manifest its occult power. Kia is capable of occult power because it is a fragment of the great life force of the universe.

As quoted in Goal Mapping : How to Turn Your Dreams into Realities (2006) by Brian Mayne, p. 84
“What is liberal education,” p. 6
Liberalism Ancient and Modern (1968)

“Human nature with all its infirmities and depravation is still capable of great things.”
Letter to Abigail Adams (29 October 1775), published Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife, Vol. 1 (1841), ed. Charles Francis Adams, p. 72
1770s
Context: Human nature with all its infirmities and depravation is still capable of great things. It is capable of attaining to degrees of wisdom and goodness, which we have reason to believe, appear as respectable in the estimation of superior intelligences. Education makes a greater difference between man and man, than nature has made between man and brute. The virtues and powers to which men may be trained, by early education and constant discipline, are truly sublime and astonishing. Newton and Locke are examples of the deep sagacity which may be acquired by long habits of thinking and study.
Bk. 3, Ch. "Like They Say, It's Bounce Or Break"
The Shockwave Rider (1975)

“The great law of culture is: Let each become all that he was created capable of being.”
Richter.
1820s, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827–1855)

The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence (1999)