r of His wisdom, whereby He bestows on men various
measures of virtue, according to Eph. 4:7: "To every one of you
[Vulg.: 'us'] is given grace according to the measure of the giving
of Christ."
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SECOND ARTICLE [I-II, Q. 66, Art. 2]

Whether All the Virtues That Are Together in One Man, Are Equal?

Objection 1: It would seem that the virtues in one same man are not
all equally intense. For the Apostle says (1 Cor. 7:7): "Everyone
hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another
after that." Now one gift would not be more proper than another to a
man, if God infused all the virtues equally into each man. Therefore
it seems that the virtues are not all equal in one and the same man.

Obj. 2: Further, if all the virtues were equally intense in one and
the same man, it would follow that whoever surpasses another in one
virtue, would surpass him in all the others. But this is clearly not
the case: since various saints are specially praised for different
virtues; e.g. Abraham for faith (Rom. 4), Moses for his meekness
(Num. 7:3), Job for his patience (Tob. 2:12). This is why of each
Confessor the Church sings: "There was not found his like in keeping
the law of the most High," [*See _Lesson_ in the Mass _Statuit_
(Dominican Missal)], since each one was remarkable for some virtue or
other. Therefore the virtues are not all equal in one and the same
man.

Obj. 3: Further, the more intense a habit is, the greater one's
pleasure and readiness in making use of it. Now experience shows that
a man is more pleased and ready to make use of one virtue than of
another. Therefore the virtues are not all equal in one and the same
man.

_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (De Trin. vi, 4) that "those who
are equal in fortitude are equal in prudence and temperance," and so
on. Now it would not be so, unless all the virtues in one man were
equal. Therefore all virtues are equal in one man.

_I answer that,_ As explained above (A. 1), the comparative greatness
of virtues can be understood in two ways. First, as referring to
their specific nature: and in this way there is no doubt that in a
man one virtue is greater than another, for example, charity, than
faith and hope. Secondly, it may be taken as referring to the degree
of participation by the subject, according as a virtue becomes
intense or remiss in its subject. In this sense all the virtues in
one man are equal with an equality of propo