The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

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Author QuotedBonaventura
Title QuotedCommentarius in secundum librum Sententiarum Petri Lombardi
Date (Year/Month/Day)1940/11/02
Imprint 
Quotation"Infinitum dicitur dupliciter, scilicet per privationem perfectionis; et sic materia dicitur infinita, et talis infiniti non est finire, sed potius finiri indiget, secundum quod est possible. Alio modo infinitum dicitur per privationem limitationis; et quod sic infinitum est, proprie habet finire quoniam ultra ipsum, cum non sit maius cogitare, non contingit aliquid appetere. Unde talis infinitas convenit ultimo fini, quae maxime habet finiendi rationem." ["Infinity is understood in two ways. First, through the privation of perfection. In this way, matter is called infinite, and of such infinity there is no end, since it is lacking an end, being only possibility. Secondly, infinity is understood as the privation of limitation; what is thus considered infinite, is already completed, since there is nothing beyond it. Since nothing greater can be thought of, it does not desire anything beyond it. It is this kind of infinity that is proper to the ultimate end, which has the greatest power to motivate."] Saint Bonaventure I. Sent. I. III.I. a3.
Quotation SourceRun to the mountain: The Story of a Vocation. The journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 1, 1939-1941.; Edited by Patrick Hart, O.C.S.O. / San Francisco : Harper Collins. 1995, p. 247-48
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