ught, out of
charity, to love his neighbor more than himself.

Obj. 3: Further, it is written (1 Cor. 13:5) "charity seeketh not its
own." Now the thing we love most is the one whose good we seek most.
Therefore a man does not, out of charity, love himself more than his
neighbor.

_On the contrary,_ It is written (Lev. 19:18, Matt. 22:39): "Thou
shalt love thy neighbor (Lev. 19:18: 'friend') as thyself." Whence it
seems to follow that man's love for himself is the model of his love
for another. But the model exceeds the copy. Therefore, out of
charity, a man ought to love himself more than his neighbor.

_I answer that,_ There are two things in man, his spiritual nature
and his corporeal nature. And a man is said to love himself by reason
of his loving himself with regard to his spiritual nature, as stated
above (Q. 25, A. 7): so that accordingly, a man ought, out of
charity, to love himself more than he loves any other person.

This is evident from the very reason for loving: since, as stated
above (Q. 25, AA. 1, 12), God is loved as the principle of good, on
which the love of charity is founded; while man, out of charity,
loves himself by reason of his being a partaker of the aforesaid
good, and loves his neighbor by reason of his fellowship in that
good. Now fellowship is a reason for love according to a certain
union in relation to God. Wherefore just as unity surpasses union,
the fact that man himself has a share of the Divine good, is a more
potent reason for loving than that another should be a partner with
him in that share. Therefore man, out of charity, ought to love
himself more than his neighbor: in sign whereof, a man ought not to
give way to any evil of sin, which counteracts his share of
happiness, not even that he may free his neighbor from sin.

Reply Obj. 1: The love of charity takes its quantity not only from
its object which is God, but also from the lover, who is the man that
has charity, even as the quantity of any action depends in some way
on the subject. Wherefore, though a better neighbor is nearer to God,
yet because he is not as near to the man who has charity, as this man
is to himself, it does not follow that a man is bound to love his
neighbor more than himself.

Reply Obj. 2: A man ought to bear bodily injury for his friend's
sake, and precisely in so doing he loves himself more as regards his
spiritual mind, because it pertains to the perfection of virtue,
which is a good of the