Wisdom of Sir Thomas More

Sir Thomas More (February 7th, 1478 – July 6th, 1535), honored in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, author, social philosopher, amateur theologian, statesman, and Renaissance humanist.

More opposed the Protestant Reformation and Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church. He was executed in 1532 after refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, and convicted of treason on what he said was false evidence. At his execution, he reportedly said: "I die the King's good servant, and God's first."

Pope Pius XI canonized More as a martyr in 1935. Pope John Paul II declared him the patron saint of statesmen and politicians in 2000.

Below we list some words of wisdom from Saint Thomas More.

"One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated."

"Occupy your mind with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones."

"You wouldn't abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn't control the winds."
"If honor were profitable, everybody would be honorable."

"It is possible to live for the next life and still be merry in this."

"Nobody owns anything but everyone is rich - for what greater wealth can there be than cheerfulness, peace of mind, and freedom from anxiety?"

"Take something from yourself, to give to another, that is humane and gentle and never takes away as much comfort as it brings again."

"The heart that has truly loved never forgets."

"It's wrong to deprive someone else of a pleasure so that you can enjoy one yourself, but to deprive yourself of a pleasure so that you can add to someone else's enjoyment is an act of humanity by which you always gain more than you lose."

"Because the soul has such deep roots in personal and social life and its values run so contrary to modern concerns, caring for the soul may well turn out to be a radical act, a challenge to accepted norms."

"Friendship demands attention."

"Pride thinks its own happiness shines the brighter by comparing it with the misfortunes of others."

"Whoever loveth me, loveth my hound."

"Sex and religion are closer to each other than either might prefer."

"Food is an implement of magic, and only the most coldhearted rationalist could squeeze the juices of life out of it and make it bland. In a true sense, a cookbook is the best source of psychological advice and the kitchen the first choice of room for a therapy of the world."

"What is deferred is not avoided."

"Kindness and good nature unite men more effectually and with greater strength than any agreements whatsoever, since thereby the engagements of men's hearts become stronger than the bond and obligation of words."

"Every tribulation which ever comes our way either is sent to be medicinal, if we will take it as such, or may become medicinal, if we will make it such, or is better than medicinal, unless we forsake it."

"Getting married is like putting one's hand in a bag containing 99 serpents and one eel."

"A pretty face may be enough to catch a man, but it takes character and good nature to hold him."

"Two evils, greed and faction are the destruction of all justice."

"The things we pray for, good Lord, give us grace to labor for."

"Lord, give me a sense of humor so that I may take some happiness from this life and share it with others."

"For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them."

"If we lived in a state where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us saintly. But since we see that avarice, anger, pride and stupidity commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice and thought, perhaps we must stand fast a little, even at the risk of being heroes."

"Pride measures prosperity not by her own advantages but by the disadvantages of others. She would not even wish to be a goddess unless there were some wretches left whom she could order about and lord it over, whose misery would make her happiness seem all the more extraordinary, whose poverty can be tormented and exacerbated by a display of her wealth. This infernal serpent, pervading the human heart, keeps men from reforming their lives, holding them back like a suckfish."

Copyright © Stephen Petullo, Scott Petullo