
Ep. 255: The Saint's Guide to Happiness | Perennial Wisdom
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In this episode of Perennial Wisdom, we explore the profound and surprising vision of happiness taught by the 13th-century theologian and philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas. Long before modern self-help, Aquinas argued that most of our suffering comes not from pain itself, but from aiming our deepest desires at things too small to satisfy them.
Through three core ideas, we examine why:
- No finite thing can be our final happiness
- The human heart longs for something infinite
- Virtue is not moralism, but the reordering of desire
Throughout our journey, we draw on insights from Aquinas’ Treatise on Happiness and the modern philosopher Josef Pieper, revealing a vision of happiness rooted not in stimulation or control, but in truth and contemplation.
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