ffect. Consequently it is a sin, for by sin we mean an
evil movement of the appetite, as appears from what has been said
above (Q. 10, A. 2; I-II, Q. 74, A. 4).

Reply Obj. 1: Passions are not sinful in themselves; but they are
blameworthy in so far as they are applied to something evil, just as
they deserve praise in so far as they are applied to something good.
Wherefore sorrow, in itself, calls neither for praise nor for blame:
whereas moderate sorrow for evil calls for praise, while sorrow for
good, and again immoderate sorrow for evil, call for blame. It is in
this sense that sloth is said to be a sin.

Reply Obj. 2: The passions of the sensitive appetite may
either be venial sins in themselves, or incline the soul to mortal
sin. And since the sensitive appetite has a bodily organ, it follows
that on account of some bodily transmutation a man becomes apt to
commit some particular sin. Hence it may happen that certain sins may
become more insistent, through certain bodily transmutations occurring
at certain fixed times. Now all bodily effects, of themselves, dispose
one to sorrow; and thus it is that those who fast are harassed by
sloth towards mid-day, when they begin to feel the want of food, and
to be parched by the sun's heat.

Reply Obj. 3: It is a sign of humility if a man does not think
too much of himself, through observing his own faults; but if a man
contemns the good things he has received from God, this, far from
being a proof of humility, shows him to be ungrateful: and from such
like contempt results sloth, because we sorrow for things that we
reckon evil and worthless. Accordingly we ought to think much of the
goods of others, in such a way as not to disparage those we have
received ourselves, because if we did they would give us sorrow.

Reply Obj. 4: Sin is ever to be shunned, but the assaults of sin
should be overcome, sometimes by flight, sometimes by resistance;
by flight when a continued thought increases the incentive to sin,
as in lust; for which reason it is written (1 Cor. 6:18): "Fly
fornication"; by resistance, when perseverance in the thought
diminishes the incentive to sin, which incentive arises from some
trivial consideration. This is the case with sloth, because the more
we think about spiritual goods, the more pleasing they become to us,
and forthwith sloth dies away.
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SECOND ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 35, Art. 2]

Whether Sloth Is a Special Vice?

Objection