“ For no virtue is contrary to a natural inclination. ”
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (1274). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Aquinas |
|---|---|
| Source | Summa Theologica |
| Topic | virtue contrary |
| Date | 1274 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18755/pg18755-images.html |
Context
“Whether liberality is a part of justice?
(6) Of its comparison with other virtues. _______________________
FIRST ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 117, Art. 1]
Whether Liberality Is a Virtue?
Objection 1: It seems that liberality is not a virtue. For no virtue is contrary to a natural inclination. Now it is a natural inclination for one to provide for oneself more than for others: and yet it pertains to the liberal man to do the contrary, since, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. iv, 1) , "it is the mark of a liberal man not to look to himself, so that he leaves for himself the lesser things."”
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