Inspirational Quotes by Peter Kreeft
“angelism, confusing man with an angel by denying his likeness to animals, and animalism, confusing man with an animal by denying his likeness to angels.”
“More accurately stated, man is not both angel and animal because he is neither angel nor animal; he is between angels and animals, a unique rung on the cosmic ladder.”
“(“Virtue” used to mean power, might, or energy.)”
“the medieval idea that angels were required to move the heavenly bodies.”
“Aristotle had discovered only half the principle of inertia—that a body at rest remains at rest unless moved by another—but not the other half—that a body in motion remains in motion unless acted on by another.”
“Aristotle also believed that a vacuum was impossible.”
“Physical emotions are moved by chemicals, nerve endings, weather, digestion, hormones, and a thousand other things in the body or the physical world. Animals can’t love without physical emotion. Angels can’t love with physical emotion. We can love with or without physical emotion.”
“2. Greed, or acquisitive desire.”
“8. Charity (agape), or willing the good of the other. Since this love comes from the will rather than the feelings, and since angels have wills, angels have this love.”
“Humans are the lowest (least intelligent) of spirits and the highest (most intelligent) of animals. We are rational animals, incarnate minds, the smartest of animals and the stupidest of spirits:”
“Your problem, however big it is (or however small), is His wise and loving will to you, even though it may not look wise or loving. It is His deliberate permissive will. And your response to it is your response to Him.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Jesus-Shock
“Christ changed every human being he ever met. In fact, He changed history, splitting it open like a coconut and inserting eternity into the split between B.C. and A.D. If anyone claims to have met Him without being changed, he has not met Him at all. When you touch Him, you touch lightning. Socrates is puzzled because he is looking for the burn marks.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Jesus-Shock
“Not all who listen, believe. If you call the Gospel a crazy fairy tale, a far-too-good-to-be-true myth, an insane extension of wishful thinking, or even a blasphemous lie, I will respect you and argue with you. But if you call it a platitude, I can only pity you, for that means you have never listened to it.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Jesus-Shock
“His glory is to be our concern; our glory is His concern. That is what love is: a holy Exchange.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Jesus-Shock
“His purpose was not just to make us safe but to make us saints.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Prayer for Beginners
“Even God cannot make us love him. “Forced love” is a meaningless impossibility, like “virtuous sin”.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Prayer for Beginners
“Not all prayer is in words, because not all conversation is in words.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Prayer for Beginners
“When we use the prayers of the Church, we use the greatest prayers ever written, the words and sentiments of great saints and hymn writers and liturgists. We do this rightly, because God deserves the best, and these prayers are the best. They were composed by other people, but we make them our own when we pray them, like a lover reciting a sonnet by Shakespeare to his beloved. It is Shakespeare’s gift: Shakespeare gave it to him, and now he gives it to his beloved.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Prayer for Beginners
“It is tempting to remain in the comfortable theater of the imagination instead of the real world, to fall in love with the idea of becoming a saint and loving God and neighbor instead of doing the actual work, because the idea makes no demands on you.”
― Peter Kreeft ,
from Prayer for Beginners
Group of Brands
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Peter John Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College, and author of numerous books as well as a popular writer on Christian theology, and specifically Roman Catholic apologetics. He also formulated together with Ronald K. Tacelli, SJ, "Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God".
Kreeft took his A.B. at Calvin College (1959), and an M.A. at Fordham University (1961). In the same university he completed his doctoral studies in 1965. He briefly did post graduate studies at Yale University. He joined the Philosophy faculty of the Department of Philosophy of Boston College in 1965. In 1994 he was a signer of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.