Many / One

A database of 11,000+ illuminated guiding quotations in 40 categories from 600+ inspired books by our most brilliant and influential authors.
Compiled by JoAnn Kite

SHOW detailed search and navigation | Quotes | References | JoAnn

1		"Compassion is our capacity to treat others as ourselves – a sign of our radical interdependence." Matthew Fox

2		"These (morphic) fields, according to the hypothesis of formative causation, contain an inherent memory, a kind of pooled or collective memory of the species. They organize not only bodily development but also instinctive behavior and mental activity….Tthere is no doubt that much of the medieval conception of the soul as an invisible animating principle has been carried over into the field concept. This is particularly clear in the case of magnets, which were believed from ancient times until the seventeenth century to have magnetic souls within and around them. Today we would say that the properties of magnets depend on the magnetic fields within and around them. In the context of electro-magnetic fields, and particularly the properties of such fields expressed in holograms, I find (Thomas) Aquinas opens up an amazing vista of thought by inviting us to compare the pervasive nature of the soul with that of God: 'The whole human soul is in the whole body and also in every part of the body, just as God is present to the entire universe." See Rupert Sheldrake's 'A New Science of Life, Los Angeles: Tarcher, 1982, and 'The Presence of the Past', New York: Vintage, 1989

3		"All people – because we are all called to virtue and to creativity – are called to greatness." Matthew Fox

4		"In fact, the desire for joy is inherently stronger than the fear of sadness." Thomas Aquinas, 'Summa Theologica', q. 35, a. 6

5		"Choice seems to lie at the core of the creative process." Matthew Fox

6		"At the origin of everything lies God's simple will and pleasure." Thomas Aquinas, 'On Truth', q. 6, a. 2

7		"God has produced a work in which the likeness of God is clearly reflected – that is, the world itself." Thomas Aquinas, In Jn 1.10, n. 136

8		"God is known through the knowledge we have, since whatever falls into our knowing, we receive as brought from God." Thomas Aquinas, DDN, n. 731, p. 274

9		"Every single creature leads to the knowledge of the first and highest One, which is infinite in every perfection." Thomas Aquinas, 'Commentary on Peter Lombard's Book of Sentences', III Sent. 1.3, ad 3

10		"All things are subject to divine providence, not only in general, but even in their own individual selves." Thomas Aquinas, ST I, q. 22, a. 2

11		"The final end of all things is the divine goodness, toward which as toward a goal all journeys and particular ends toward which things are naturally inclined are ordered." Thomas Aquinas, DDN, n. 858, pp. 321-322

12		"God's power is in every natural thing, since God is in all things by the divine essence, presence, and power." Thomas Aquinas, DP, q. 3, a. 7

13		"Virtue is a kind of spiritual path that assures a life of quality and purpose."

14		"When we are drawn to the sweetness, beauty, and goodness of creatures, how boldly we ought to be borne away to the One in whom all these little streams commingle and course!" Thomas Aquinas, 'Summa contra Gentiles', ch. 2, n. 4

15		"Fear makes people slaves. Love sets them free." Thomas Aquinas, Sermo, p. 97

16		"We choose our lives, we make them, we cocreate them, we give birth to them by the 'inward' choices we make." Matthew Fox

17		"There is a kind of wealth or treasure hidden inside each one of us that must not be buried." Matthew Fox

18		"God wills that human beings exist for the sake of the perfection of the universe." Thomas Aquinas, 'Commentary on the Letter to the Ephesians', 1.6a

19		"Because we all share one Creator, we are all brothers and sisters." Matthew Fox

20		"Humanity returns by a sort of circulatory movement to its first beginning, being united by the work of the Incarnation to the very origin of all things." Thomas Aquinas, 'A Compendium of Theology', I, 201

21		"There is no existing thing that does not have some virtue….The effects of the unfailing virtue of God proceed both to human beings and to animals, and to plants and to all natural things." Thomas Aquinas, 'Commentary on Dionysius's Divine Names', n. 751, 755

22		"God deliberately brings about multitude and distinction in order that the divine goodness may be brought forth and shared in many measures. There is beauty in the very diversity." Thomas Aquinas, CT 1, 102

23		"Creativity is something we are all ultimately responsible for. It comes from inside us in a unique way." Matthew Fox

24		"Every creature is related to God like the air is related to the sun that lights it up." Thomas Aquinas, 'ST I, q. 104, a. 1

25		"The highly developed organism is the completion, integration, and purpose of the elements." Thomas Aquinas, 'Commentary on Aristotle's Politics', lect. 1, p. 366