If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever.
-- Thomas Aquinas
For more about Thomas Aquinas, keep reading....
About the Quote
While safety is important, it cannot be the most important priority. Making safety #1 has to potential to eliminate the true purpose of some object or action.
Oddly enough, making safety #1 add the fear element rather than reduces or eliminates it. Making safety #1 encourages paralysis by analysis, making us overthink things and then act too late even if we decide to proceed.
Rocket ships explode at any point during the launch phase. Ships hit icebergs or get overturned by storms. People fall victim to traffic accidents simply by crossing the street. No matter what we do, there is always an element of risk present. We take necessary precautions in order to minimize risk; anything beyond that is counterproductive to what we're trying to do.
Some Information about Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas (Tommaso d'Aquino in Italian) was born in Roccasecca (near Aquino) in Terra di Lavoro, Kingdom of Sicily (now part of Italy) in either the year 1224 or 1225. He died in Fossanova (near Terracina) in Latium, Papal States (now part of Italy) on 1274-March-7. He is also known as Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor).
Thomas Aquinas-- better known as Saint Thomas Quinas-- was a theologian and philosopher. Two of his works, Summa theologiae (a.k.a. Summa theologica) and Summa contra gentiles, are among the foundations of modern Roman Catholic doctrine and teachings. Thomas Aquinas was canonized a saint on 1323-July-18.
When he was a young boy, his parents sent him to a monastery called Monte Cassino, which was located near his home. He was sent as an oblate, or prospective monk. The plan of his parents was that he would one day become an abbot and act on their behalf.
In 1239, roughly 9 years after he entered as an oblate, he was forced to return to his family due to expulsion of the monks by the emperor because the emperor found th monks too obedient to the pope. As a result, his parents sent him to the University of Naples, which had been recently founded by the emperor. It was at the University of Naples where Thomas Quinas discovered scientific and philosophical works which were being translated from Greek and Arabic. It was also at the University of Naples when he decided to join the Dominican religious order (also known as Friars preachers).
-- Source
Post Details
- Index4INDEX image made by @magnacarta using MS Paint.
- Quotes I use for Index4INDEX are stored in an Excel 2003 spreadsheet. Recently I added database functionality for limited searching.
Other Recent Quotes
- Index4INDEX Card 211: Jessica Ennis-Hill 1
- Index4INDEX Card 210: Bear Bryant 1
- Index4INDEX Card 209: Catherine the Great 1
Sign up to become a Keyboard Warrior
Do you like posting short bursts of text? Do it 240-characters at a time at **LeoThreads.