THE GREAT IDEAS, A SYNTOPICON, VOL. 1
Mortimer J. Adler, editor
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"The successive phases of Spirit that animate the Nations…are themselves only steps in the development of the one Universal Spirit, which through them elevates and completes itself to a self-comprehending totality." Georg Hegel (1770-1831),
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"Whatever exists...has some share in the effulgent beauty of the One."
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"A natural teleology seems to imply that every natural thing is governed by an indwelling form working toward a definite end, and that the whole of nature exhibits the working out of a divine plan or design."
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"If we attentively consider the constant regularity, order, and concatenation of natural things, the surprising magnificence, beauty, and perfection of the larger, and the exquisite contrivance of the smaller parts of the creation, together with the exact harmony and correspondence of the whole,….I say if we consider all these things, and at the same time attend to the meaning and import of the attributes, one, eternal, infinitely wise, good, and perfect, we shall clearly perceive that they belong to the Spirit who 'works all in all', and 'by whom all things consist.'" George Berkeley (1685-1745), 'The Principles of Human Knowledge'
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"The moral law is universally and equally binding on all persons….the moral law commands us to respect the dignity of the human person, ourselves and others alike,"
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"In the view of Nicolas of Cusa, the mystery of God's infinity is best expressed by affirming that in God all contradictions are somehow reconciled."
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"God is the infinite and eternal substance of all finite existences, an absolute and unchanging ONE underlying the finite modes in which it variably manifests itself."
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"The ancients did not doubt that men could choose and, through choice, exercise some control over the disposition of their lives. Tacitus, for example…claims that 'the wisest of the ancients leave us the capacity of choosing our life."
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"In the realm of Being, the trace of The One establishes reality: existence is a trace of The One." Plotinus
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"Spinoza defines God as 'Being absolutely infinite, that is to say, substance consisting of infinite attributes, each one of which expresses eternal and infinite essence."
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"Love is everywhere in the universe – in all things which have their being from the bounty and generosity of God's creative love and which in return obey the law of love in seeking God or in whatever they do to magnify God's glory."
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"As God is the supernatural efficient cause of all created things, so God is also the supernatural final cause – the end or ultimate good toward which all creatures tend." Baruch Spinoza
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"Charity, according to its very nature, causes peace; for love is a unitive force." Thomas Aquinas
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"God is sovranly [sovereignly] present through all. We cannot think of something of God here and something else there,…there is an instantaneous presence everywhere….everything therefore [is] fully held by the divine." Plotinus
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"In Aristotle's cosmology, the circular motions of the celestial spheres, and through them all other cycles of natural change, are sustained eternally by the prime mover, which moves all things by the attraction of its perfect being."
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"Immortality is, in a way, enjoyed in this life, for it is a present participation in eternity through the mind's knowledge of God."
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"Every act of understanding or thought involves imagination."
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"Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." John Locke (1629-1695)
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"The tendency of each nature is somehow proportionate to its capacity. If man's restless search for knowledge and happiness can be quieted only by the possession of the infinite truth and goodness which is God, then man's intellect and will must somehow be as infinite in nature as they are in tendency."
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"The ultimate measure of justice in all human institutions and acts, as well as in the characters of men, is not itself a man-made standard, but rather a natural principle of justice, holding for all men at all times everywhere."
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"The absolute good is, as in the 'Divine Comedy', the final cause or ultimate end of the motions of the universe. It is 'the Alpha and Omega', Dante says, 'of every scripture that Love reads to me.'"
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"Justice is esential to the very life and health of the soul."
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"God…is intimately present to our minds, producing in them all that variety of ideas or sensations which continually affect us." George Berkeley (1685-1753), 'The Principles of Human Knowledge'
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"Human kingdoms are established by divine providence." St. Augustine
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"The good of nothing less than the whole collectively or of all distributively can be taken as the common or general good."
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