Sunday, July 11, 2010

1a 2ae q40 a7: Whether hope is a cause of love? Yes.

Amor causatur a spe quia inquantum spes respicit illum per quem fit aliquid nobis possibile, sic amor causatur ex spe, et non e converso.

Love is caused by hope because insofar as hope regards one through whom something becomes possible to us, love is caused by hope, and not vice versa.

Inquantum igitur spes respicit bonum speratum, spes ex amore causatur, non enim est spes nisi de bono desiderato et amato.

But insofar as hope regards the good we hope to get, it is caused by love, since we do not hope, save for that which we desire and love.

Ex hoc enim quod per aliquem speramus nobis posse provenire bona, movemur in ipsum sicut in bonum nostrum; et sic incipimus ipsum amare.

By the very fact that we hope that goods will accrue to us through someone, we are moved towards him as to our own good; and thus we begin to love him.

Ex hoc autem quod amamus aliquem, non speramus de eo, nisi per accidens, inquantum scilicet credimus nos redamari ab ipso.

Whereas from the fact that we love someone we do not hope in him, except accidentally, that is, insofar as we think that he returns our love.

Unde amari ab aliquo facit nos sperare de eo, sed amor eius causatur ex spe quam de eo habemus.

Wherefore the fact of being loved by another makes us hope in him, but our love for him is caused by the hope we have in him.