Love Takes Up Where Knowledge Leaves

This saying is attributed to Thomas Aquinas and reflects the epistemological framework of his theology, though the exact source within his works is uncertain. In the Summa Theologica (I-II, Q. 27), Aquinas argues that love is the natural response to a good once it has been apprehended by the intellect: we must first know something before we can love it. But he also insists — in his treatment of faith and charity — that knowledge of God is inherently incomplete in this life, and the will's movement toward God through love extends beyond what the intellect can fully grasp. The remark captures this asymmetry between knowledge's limits and love's reach.