Anselm of Canterbury
A Benedictine monk and archbishop, known for his ontological argument for the existence of God.
Most quoted
"I do not endeavor, O Lord, to penetrate your sublimity, for I do not in any way compare my understanding with that; but I desire to understand a certain measure of your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, that unless I believe, I shall not understand."
— from Proslogion, Chapter 1, 1078
"For the supreme Nature is not improperly said to be just, when it is considered as punishing the wicked; nor merciful, when it is considered as sparing them; nor is it said to be just from one quality, and merciful from another, but it is one and the same essence, which is viewed under different aspects."
— from Monologion, 1076
"For if it can be thought not to exist, it is not that than which nothing greater can be thought. But this is a contradiction. So truly, therefore, does a being exist than which nothing greater can be thought, that it cannot be thought not to exist."
— from Proslogion, Chapter 3, 1078
All quotes by Anselm of Canterbury (109)
The love of God and of neighbor is the whole purpose of the divine law.
The soul that loves God seeks nothing else from him but God himself.
Our heart is restless until it rests in you.
For the contemplation of God is the supreme good of the rational creature.
The supreme essence is life, wisdom, goodness, eternal blessedness, and whatever is absolutely better to be than not to be.
For the supreme Spirit is everywhere and always present, not in place or time, but in an ineffable manner.
The supreme Truth is the cause of all truth.
To will what God wills is to be just.
Faith seeking understanding.
Contemporaries of Anselm of Canterbury
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109).