Happiness is the attainment of the perfect good.
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Perfect Happiness
Topic: Joy & Happiness
Happiness is the attainment of the perfect good. Now since happiness is a perfect and sufficient good, it excludes every evil, and fulfills every desire. But this is not to be found in any creature, but in God alone. For every creature has goodness by participation. Therefore, God alone can satisfy the will of man.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (born circa 1225 in Roccasecca, Italy – died March 7, 1274, at the Abbey of Fossanova) is one of the most influential theologians and philosophers in Christian history. Born into a noble family near Naples, Thomas was educated first at the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino, where his intellectual promise was recognized early. Against his family’s wishes, he later joined the Dominican Order, choosing a life of poverty, study, and preaching over the political and ecclesiastical prospects reserved for him. This decisive act of freedom and devotion marked his lifelong search for truth—a pursuit grounded in the conviction that faith and reason are harmonious paths to the same divine source.
Thomas studied under Saint Albert the Great in Cologne and Paris, where he developed a disciplined method of inquiry that sought coherence between theology and philosophy. Drawing deeply from the works of Aristotle, he reinterpreted classical thought within a Christian framework, arguing that creation’s rational order reflects the mind and goodness of God. His monumental Summa Theologica stands as a synthesis of Christian doctrine and philosophical reflection, exploring questions of existence, morality, virtue, and divine purpose. He taught that reason can guide the human mind toward understanding God’s creation, yet revelation is necessary for receiving the fullness of divine truth.
Known for his humility and serenity of mind as much as for his intellectual brilliance, Thomas approached theology as an act of worship—an offering of the intellect to God. His writings shaped the development of Western theology, ethics, natural law, and education for centuries. Canonized in 1323 and later named a Doctor of the Church, he is honored for his luminous vision of the relationship between faith and reason and for his conviction that love is the highest form of wisdom. Saint Thomas Aquinas’s legacy endures as a witness to the unity of intellect and devotion, reminding seekers that the pursuit of truth, when guided by humility and love, becomes a path toward the divine.
Summa Theologica
Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica, Prima Secundae Partis, Q. 2, Art. 7. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Benziger Bros., 1947. [Summa Theologica, I-II, Q. 2, Art. 7.]
Saint Thomas Aquinas
Theme: Happiness and Well-being
About This Thomas Aquinas Quotation [Commentary]
Thomas Aquinas defines happiness as “the attainment of the perfect good,” suggesting that true happiness lies in a state of complete fulfillment, free from unmet desires or limitations. He argues that this perfect good cannot be found in any created being or material possession, as they are finite and thus unable to fully satisfy the human soul. Instead, only God, as the ultimate source of goodness, can provide the complete fulfillment human beings seek. For Aquinas, happiness is not merely psychological or physical; it is a relational state, grounded in a connection to something beyond temporal satisfactions.
Aquinas views earthly goods as limited and unable to provide lasting happiness, though they may bring temporary pleasure or satisfaction. He suggests that created things only partially reflect divine goodness, and thus can offer only partial fulfillment. His perspective does not dismiss worldly joys but reorients them toward a higher source. By placing happiness beyond the immediate and finite, Aquinas encourages a focus on a deeper, enduring fulfillment that transcends material desires.
Central to Aquinas’s philosophy is the belief that only God fulfills every desire and completes human well-being. He aligns happiness with the “beatific vision”—the soul’s ultimate communion with God, which satisfies all longing. This divine union, according to Aquinas, is the only source of true and lasting happiness. His understanding of happiness reminds us that well-being goes beyond momentary contentment to a more profound alignment with the eternal source of all goodness.
Additional Thomas Aquinas Quotations About Happiness
“Man is not perfectly happy, so long as something remains for him to desire and seek.”
—Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica, Prima Secundae Partis, Q. 3, Art. 8. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Benziger Bros., 1947.
[Of course this meaning includes women! – AD]
“Perfect happiness can consist in nothing else than the vision of the Divine Essence.”
I–II, q. 3, art. 8 co
—Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica: What is happiness (Prima Secundae Partis, Q. 3, a. 8)”. www.newadvent.org.
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