In contemplatione veritatis maxima delectatio consistit, quia omnis delectatio dolorem mitigat, ut supra dictum est, et ideo contemplatio veritatis mitigat tristitiam vel dolorem, et tanto magis, quanto perfectius aliquis est amator sapientiae.
The greatest of all pleasures consists in the contemplation of truth because every pleasure assuages pain, as stated above (q38 a1), and hence the contemplation of truth assuages pain or sadness, and the more so, the more perfectly one is a lover of wisdom.
In viribus animae fit redundantia a superiori ad inferius. Et secundum hoc, delectatio contemplationis, quae est in superiori parte, redundat ad mitigandum etiam dolorem qui est in sensu.
In the powers of the soul there is an overflow from the higher to the lower powers: and accordingly, the pleasure of contemplation, which is in the higher part, overflows so as to mitigate even that pain which is in the senses.
Augustinus dicit, in I Soliloq., "videbatur mihi, si se ille mentibus nostris veritatis fulgor aperiret, aut non me sensurum fuisse illum dolorem, aut certe pro nihilo toleraturum."
Augustine says (Soliloq. i, 12): "It seemed to me that if the light of that truth were to dawn on our minds, either I should not feel that pain, or at least that pain would seem nothing to me."