--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Better to illuminate, than merely to shine." description: "\"Better to illuminate, than merely to shine.\" — Thomas Aquinas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-aquinas-837_contemplating_better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shin_2508955.jpg" --- # Better to illuminate, than merely to shine. ![“Better to illuminate, than merely to shine.” quote by Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-aquinas-837_contemplating_better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shin_2508955.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-aquinas-837_contemplating_better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shin_2508955.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-aquinas-837_contemplating_better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shin_2508955.jpg) > “Better to illuminate, than merely to shine.” [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Illumination (knowledge) is more valuable than mere brilliance (appearance). **In simple terms:** Understanding outweighs showing off. Key Takeaway Pursue true insight over superficial shine. Themes knowledge wisdom humility authenticity spirituality Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - academic study - spiritual practice - mentorship - self‑reflection Key Concepts epistemology inner light intellectual virtue ethical living Questions to Reflect On - What does true illumination mean to you? - How can you prioritize substance over style? A Different Perspective Illumination requires effort; not everyone seeks depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better Illuminate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-illuminate-1137840/) [Contemplating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplating/) [Contemplation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplation/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Illuminate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illuminate/) [Illuminate Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illuminate-merely-1137841/) [Illuminating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illuminating/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Merely Shine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merely-shine-1137842/) [Shine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shine/) [Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining/) ## Related quotes > [Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shine-to-deliver-to-others/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [“Those who cannot illuminate even a gloomy street often talk about illuminating the world!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/those-who-cannot-illuminate-even-a-gloomy-street-often-talk-about/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“You who are the Source of all Light in this world, whose rays illuminate the Earth, enlighten also our hearts and minds, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/you-who-are-the-source-of-all-light-in-this-world-whose-rays/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [I've trained myself to illuminate the things in my personality that are likable and to hide and protect the things that are less likeable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-smith/i-ve-trained-myself-to-illuminate-the-things-in-my-personality-that/) [Will Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-smith/) > [“If the sun in your mind has set, not even all the suns in the universe can illuminate you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-the-sun-in-your-mind-has-set-not-even-all-the-suns-in-the-universe/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Art doesn’t give rise to anything in us that isn’t already there. It simply stirs our curious consciousness and sparks a fire that illuminates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/art-doesn-t-give-rise-to-anything-in-us-that-isn-t-already-there-it/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [If you eliminate what no longer works, you illuminate what does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-richardson/if-you-eliminate-what-no-longer-works-you-illuminate-what-does/) [Cheryl Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-richardson/) > [Create what sets your heart on fire, and it will illuminate the path ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-what-sets-your-heart-on-fire-and-it-will-illuminate-the-path/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I will illuminate you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sienna-mcquillen/i-will-illuminate-you/) [Sienna McQuillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sienna-mcquillen/) > [“My vision is to illuminate the minds and cast aside ignorance in any form that it may presence itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/my-vision-is-to-illuminate-the-minds-and-cast-aside-ignorance-in-any/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [You can either carry a torch or light or be a torch of light. Were all meant to illuminate each other in some way. à](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/you-can-either-carry-a-torch-or-light-or-be-a-torch-of-light-were-all/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [“We are like the moon. The moon shines anyway, but it does not produce its own light. It reflects the light illuminated onto its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/we-are-like-the-moon-the-moon-shines-anyway-but-it-does-not-produce/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“There is bound to be turbulence in the clouds of confusion before one can view the friendly skies, and an illuminated landing strip.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/there-is-bound-to-be-turbulence-in-the-clouds-of-confusion-before-one/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit: it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rand/to-design-is-much-more-than-simply-to-assemble-to-order-or-even-to/) [Paul Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rand/) > [How can we manage to illuminate the pathos of our lives?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/how-can-we-manage-to-illuminate-the-pathos-of-our-lives/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) ## More by Thomas Aquinas > [Grace does not destroy nature, it perfects it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/grace-does-not-destroy-nature-it-perfects-it/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [Justice is in subjects as well as in rulers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/justice-is-in-subjects-as-well-as-in-rulers/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [“A capacity as such is directed to an act. Wherefore we seek to know the nature of a capacity from the act to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/a-capacity-as-such-is-directed-to-an-act-wherefore-we-seek-to-know/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [“Yet no-one can say that God has not a Word, for it would follow that God is most foolish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/yet-no-one-can-say-that-god-has-not-a-word-for-it-would-follow-that/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [Unbelief is the greatest of sins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/unbelief-is-the-greatest-of-sins/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [If forgers and malefactors are put to death by the secular power, there is much more reason for excommunicating and even putting to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/if-forgers-and-malefactors-are-put-to-death-by-the-secular-power/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [When fear is excessive it can make many a man despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/when-fear-is-excessive-it-can-make-many-a-man-despair/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [Now, nothing can be brought from potentiality to actual existence except through something actually existing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/now-nothing-can-be-brought-from-potentiality-to-actual-existence/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/to-convert-somebody-go-and-take-them-by-the-hand-and-guide-them/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [ By the divine providence \[animals\] are intended for man's use... Hence it is not wrong for man to make use of them, either by… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/by-the-divine-providence-animals-are-intended-for-man-s-use-hence-it/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [“What causes love, since it is a passion, is its object; and since it is a sort of affinity or agreement with the object,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/what-causes-love-since-it-is-a-passion-is-its-object-and-since-it-is/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [The image of God always abides in the soul, whether this image be obsolete and clouded over as to amount to almost nothing; or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/the-image-of-god-always-abides-in-the-soul-whether-this-image-be/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [Charity, by which God and neighbor are loved, is the most perfect friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/charity-by-which-god-and-neighbor-are-loved-is-the-most-perfect/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [Beauty adds to goodness a relation to the cognitive faculty: so that "good" means that which simply pleases the appetite; while the "beautiful" is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/beauty-adds-to-goodness-a-relation-to-the-cognitive-faculty-so-that/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) > [“God is not, like creatures, made up of parts. God is spirit, without bodily dimensions. Firstly, no body can cause change without itself being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/god-is-not-like-creatures-made-up-of-parts-god-is-spirit-without/) [Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) [Explore all 357 Thomas Aquinas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/) ## More Contemplating quotes > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [What's given, in fact, always depends on the person or thing it's given to. A minor incident in the street brings the cook to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/what-s-given-in-fact-always-depends-on-the-person-or-thing-it-s-given/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-good-author-is-he-who-contemplates-without-marked-joy-or/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I have actually seen people contemplate their navels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-heilpern/i-have-actually-seen-people-contemplate-their-navels/) [John Heilpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-heilpern/) > [It is very pleasant to scratch an itching ring-worm, but the sensation one gets afterwards is very painful and intolerable. In the same way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramakrishna/it-is-very-pleasant-to-scratch-an-itching-ring-worm-but-the-sensation/) [Ramakrishna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramakrishna/) > [He that contemplates hath a day without night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/he-that-contemplates-hath-a-day-without-night/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [If we are to define science, ... it does not consist so much in knowing, nor even in "organized knowledge," as it does in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/if-we-are-to-define-science-it-does-not-consist-so-much-in-knowing/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [As we contemplate with reverence and awe how our Savior embraces us, comforts us, and heals us, let us commit to become His hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/as-we-contemplate-with-reverence-and-awe-how-our-savior-embraces-us/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [Contemplating the bowl, it is possible to see the interdependent elements which give rise to the bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/contemplating-the-bowl-it-is-possible-to-see-the-interdependent/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [The two hardest things to contemplate in life ... are failure and age; those are one and the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-two-hardest-things-to-contemplate-in-life-are-failure-and-age/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It always grieves me to contemplate the initiation of children into the ways of life when they are scarcely more than infants. It checks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-always-grieves-me-to-contemplate-the-initiation-of-children-into/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [When contemplating college liberals, you really regret once again that John Walker is not getting the death penalty.We need to execute people like John…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/when-contemplating-college-liberals-you-really-regret-once-again-that/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [“That which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/that-which-sings-and-contemplates-in-you-is-still-dwelling-within-the/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [contemplating the misfortunes of others does not lighten one's own trouble but instead adds to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-g-eberhart/contemplating-the-misfortunes-of-others-does-not-lighten-one-s-own/) [Mignon G. Eberhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-g-eberhart/) > [Linda McCartney sausages were my favorite. Theyre much better than eating real sausages and you dont have to contemplate half way through exactly whats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-cowell/linda-mccartney-sausages-were-my-favorite-theyre-much-better-than/) [Simon Cowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-cowell/) [Browse all 762 Contemplating quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplating/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Better to illuminate, than merely to shine.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Aquinas" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shine/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Contemplating" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shine/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-aquinas-837_contemplating_better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shin_2508955.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-aquinas-837_contemplating_better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shin_2508955.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-aquinas-837_contemplating_better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shin_2508955.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Better to illuminate, than merely to shine.” — Thomas Aquinas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Aquinas", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-aquinas/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Better to illuminate, than merely to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shine/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/better-to-illuminate-than-merely-to-shine/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```