--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Distinctions drawn by the mind are not…" description: "\"Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.\" — Thomas Aquinas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/thomas-aquinas-837_mind_distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-n_2219071.jpg" --- # Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily… ![“Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.” quote by Thomas Aquinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/thomas-aquinas-837_mind_distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-n_2219071.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/thomas-aquinas-837_mind_distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-n_2219071.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/thomas-aquinas-837_mind_distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-n_2219071.jpg) > “Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.” [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. Mental categories do not always match the world’s actual distinctions. **In simple terms:** Mind’s distinctions differ from reality. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about categories. Themes philosophy epistemology reality Mood critical inquisitive Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - science - law - every education Key Concepts ontology cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - Do your categories reflect reality? - How do you test mental distinctions? A Different Perspective Mental models can mislead without empirical checks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Distinctions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinctions/) [Distinctions Drawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinctions-drawn-4944797/) [Distinctions Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinctions-reality-4944798/) [Drawn Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drawn-mind-4944799/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Necessarily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-necessarily-1534943/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [Reality is infinitely diverse, compared with even the subtlest conclusions of abstract thought, and does not allow of clear-cut and sweeping distinctions. Reality resists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/reality-is-infinitely-diverse-compared-with-even-the-subtlest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [An idle mind is not necessarily a devil's workshop but negative thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/an-idle-mind-is-not-necessarily-a-devil-s-workshop-but-negative/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [What makes someone sexy in my mind is who they are. It's not necessarily how they look.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harbour/what-makes-someone-sexy-in-my-mind-is-who-they-are-it-s-not/) [David Harbour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harbour/) > [“I wanted to tell them that they had made a mistake. I wasn’t like them. I didn’t want the same things that they wanted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ling-ma/i-wanted-to-tell-them-that-they-had-made-a-mistake-i-wasn-t-like-them/) [Ling Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ling-ma/) > [All our distinctions ire accidental; beauty and deformity, though personal qualities, are neither entitled to praise nor censure; yet it so happens that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/all-our-distinctions-ire-accidental-beauty-and-deformity-though/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [The distinctions of what makes a book one genre or another can sometimes be a bit muddy, but generally it's a matter of projecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-fowler/the-distinctions-of-what-makes-a-book-one-genre-or-another-can/) [Therese Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-fowler/) > [Words have their genealogy, their history, their economy, their literature, their art and music, as too they have their weddings and divorces, their successes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgilia-peterson/words-have-their-genealogy-their-history-their-economy-their/) [Virgilia Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgilia-peterson/) > [Social distinctions tend to matter only at your own level and above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/social-distinctions-tend-to-matter-only-at-your-own-level-and-above/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [“Product distinctions, the historic centerpiece of product marketing, exist only briefly—and in the prospects’ minds, often not at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-beckwith/product-distinctions-the-historic-centerpiece-of-product-marketing/) [Harry Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-beckwith/) > [Place, time, life, death, earth, heaven are divisions and distinctions we make, like the imaginary lines we trace upon the surface of the globe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-kemble/place-time-life-death-earth-heaven-are-divisions-and-distinctions-we/) [Fanny Kemble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-kemble/) > [The highest of distinctions is service to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-highest-of-distinctions-is-service-to-others/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we want to decode our community's deep-seated fibers, we must go and see the world and explore the significant distinctions and resemblances. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/if-we-want-to-decode-our-community-s-deep-seated-fibers-we-must-go/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [The distinctions of fine art bore me to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/the-distinctions-of-fine-art-bore-me-to-death/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) > [Many persons have been confused and discouraged at the very outset of the study by the great variety and the delicate distinctions of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-staunton/many-persons-have-been-confused-and-discouraged-at-the-very-outset-of/) [Howard Staunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-staunton/) ## 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 Distinctions quotes > [Many persons have been confused and discouraged at the very outset of the study by the great variety and the delicate distinctions of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-staunton/many-persons-have-been-confused-and-discouraged-at-the-very-outset-of/) [Howard Staunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-staunton/) > [The distinctions of fine art bore me to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/the-distinctions-of-fine-art-bore-me-to-death/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“If we want to decode our community's deep-seated fibers, we must go and see the world and explore the significant distinctions and resemblances. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/if-we-want-to-decode-our-community-s-deep-seated-fibers-we-must-go/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [The highest of distinctions is service to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-highest-of-distinctions-is-service-to-others/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Place, time, life, death, earth, heaven are divisions and distinctions we make, like the imaginary lines we trace upon the surface of the globe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-kemble/place-time-life-death-earth-heaven-are-divisions-and-distinctions-we/) [Fanny Kemble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-kemble/) > [“Product distinctions, the historic centerpiece of product marketing, exist only briefly—and in the prospects’ minds, often not at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-beckwith/product-distinctions-the-historic-centerpiece-of-product-marketing/) [Harry Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-beckwith/) > [Social distinctions tend to matter only at your own level and above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/social-distinctions-tend-to-matter-only-at-your-own-level-and-above/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [Words have their genealogy, their history, their economy, their literature, their art and music, as too they have their weddings and divorces, their successes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgilia-peterson/words-have-their-genealogy-their-history-their-economy-their/) [Virgilia Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgilia-peterson/) > [The distinctions of what makes a book one genre or another can sometimes be a bit muddy, but generally it's a matter of projecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/therese-fowler/the-distinctions-of-what-makes-a-book-one-genre-or-another-can/) [Therese Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/therese-fowler/) > [All our distinctions ire accidental; beauty and deformity, though personal qualities, are neither entitled to praise nor censure; yet it so happens that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/all-our-distinctions-ire-accidental-beauty-and-deformity-though/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [“I wanted to tell them that they had made a mistake. I wasn’t like them. I didn’t want the same things that they wanted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ling-ma/i-wanted-to-tell-them-that-they-had-made-a-mistake-i-wasn-t-like-them/) [Ling Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ling-ma/) > [Wit makes its own welcome, and levels all distinctions. No dignity, no learning, no force of character, can make any stand against good wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/wit-makes-its-own-welcome-and-levels-all-distinctions-no-dignity-no/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I think it is absurd to give such tremendous importance to the distinctions between men and women. When I meet someone I regard that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/i-think-it-is-absurd-to-give-such-tremendous-importance-to-the/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Making distinctions is part of learning. So is making mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/making-distinctions-is-part-of-learning-so-is-making-mistakes/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) [Browse all 65 Distinctions quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinctions/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Aquinas" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-necessarily-equivalent-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Distinctions" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-necessarily-equivalent-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/thomas-aquinas-837_mind_distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-n_2219071.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/thomas-aquinas-837_mind_distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-n_2219071.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/thomas-aquinas-837_mind_distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-n_2219071.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.” — 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": "Distinctions drawn by the mind are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-necessarily-equivalent-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-aquinas/distinctions-drawn-by-the-mind-are-not-necessarily-equivalent-to/#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 } } ] } ```