Temperance

The monastic rule developed by St. Benedict of Nursia is known for its moderation and temperance.

Definition and Explanation

  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, point 1809:
    • "Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods."
  2. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, question 141:
    • Temperance is the virtue by which man aligns his natural desires with reason, rejecting any animal desires that are not subject to reason.
    • Temperance is the perfection of the concupiscible appetite, which is the sensitive appetite that attracts us to goods and repels us from evils.
  3. Aristotle's Rhetoric, Book I, Chapter 9:
    • "Temperance is the virtue that disposes us to obey the law where physical pleasures are concerned."

Examples from Western History and Literature