To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.
Thomas AquinasRead
Man can sin against nature in two ways. First, when he sins against his specific rational nature, acting contrary to reason. In this sense, we can say that every sin is a sin against man's nature, because it is against man's right reason.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that sinning goes against human rationality and nature.
In this quote, Thomas Aquinas discusses the concept of sin as a violation of both human nature and reason. He explains that to act against one's rational nature is to sin, suggesting that all sins are ultimately transgressions against the inherent rationality that defines humanity. This perspective encourages a deeper understanding of morality as rooted in human nature and the application of reason.
Themes
SinNatureReasonHumanityMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on ethics, one might quote Aquinas to highlight the importance of acting in accordance with our rational nature.
More from Thomas Aquinas
All quotes βLaw is nothing other than a certain ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by the person who has the care of the community.
Thomas AquinasRead
Now this relaxation of the mind from work consists on playful words or deeds. Therefore it becomes a wise and virtuous man to have recourse to such things at times.
Thomas AquinasRead
A song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice.
Thomas AquinasRead
We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; God has provided for this, by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides.
Thomas AquinasRead
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.
Thomas AquinasRead
Similar quotes
It is enough for me to hear someone talk sincerely about ideals, about the future, about philosophy, to hear him say βwe" with a certain inflection of assurance, to hear him invoke "others" and regard himself as their interpreter - for me to consider him my enemy.
Emile M. CioranRead
Force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that_x000D_ tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels.
Albert EinsteinRead
Fasting makes sense if it really chips away at our security and, as a consequence, benefits someone else, if it helps us cultivate the style of the good Samaritan, who bent down to his brother in need and took care of him.
Pope FrancisRead
War can only be qualified by its object, and there is neither foreign war nor civil war, there is only just or unjust war.
Victor HugoRead
As soon as you believe that a label you've put on yourself is true, you've limited something that is literally limitless, you've limited who you are into nothing but a thought.
AdyashantiRead
Tradition! We scarcely know the word anymore. We are afraid to be either proud of our ancestors or ashamed of them. We scorn nobility in name and in fact. We cling to a bourgeois mediocrity which would make it appear we are all Americans, made in the image and likeness of George Washington.
Dorothy DayRead