Skip to content

No evil can be excused because it is done with a good intention.

— Thomas Aquinas On the Ten Commandments (1273)

Nullum malum bona intentione factum excusatur.

Original text (Latin)

Another quote →

Variants

An evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention.

More quotes by Thomas Aquinas

Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship.

Virtue’s true reward is happiness itself, for which the virtuous work, whereas if they worked for honor, it would no longer be virtue, but ambition.

Reason in man is rather like God in the world.

The highest perfection of human life consists in the mind of man being detached from care, for the sake of God.

Summa contra Gentiles (1259)

It must be said that charity can, in no way, exist along with mortal sin.

All Thomas Aquinas quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas Aquinas (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.