Choose a topic from Part 1:
1. Everything has an inclination towards what accords withits nature; this inclination or tendency is called appetency orappetite. Things that lack knowledge have naturalappetency only; this is exampled in the tendency of a plant togrow, of a body to cohere, of a stone to fall to the ground. Livingbodies that have knowledge (animals and men) have, in addition tonatural appetency, tendencies that are roused in them by theirknowing, by their cognition; these are cognitionalappetites. Cognitional appetency is of two orders: the order ofsense, and the order of intellect. Sentient or sensitive appetencyinclines animal or man towards what is sensed as good or desirable,and away from what is sensed as evil or harmful. Intellectualappetency inclines intelligent creatures (angels and men) towardswhat is intellectually understood as good, and away from what isunderstood as evil. The intellectual appetency or appetite iscalled the will.
2. The will is a faculty distinct from the sentientappetite, for it belongs to the intellective order, not thesensitive order. These two appetites sometimes conflict, as, forexample, when a Catholic has hunger (i.e., sentient appetite) formeat on Friday, but wills not to eat it.
"God gives us some things, as the beginning of faith, even when we do not pray. Other things, such as perseverance, he has only provided for those who pray."
St Augustine
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"When the devil has failed in making a man fall, he puts forward all his energies to create distrust between the penitent and the confessor, and so by little and little he gains his end at last."
St Philip Neri
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"Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars."
Thomas á Kempis
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