So we have heard "seldom affirm, never deny, always distinguish"

there are a bunch of varying bastardized Latin versions, but of those that are actual Latin, the oldest I can find is

Raro affirma, saepe nega, distingue frequenter

It is the "often deny" part I find interesting. I found this is a book on logic by a Jesuit, from 1871. It makes sense in context, and is called a well known maxim!

What is the original origin and version?

"Never deny, seldom affirm, always distinguish" - St Thomas Aquinas.

Widely attributed to him, yes. Do you have a primary source?

I've got it back to 1673. Still looking.

Saepe nega; concede parum; distingue frequenter, from 1770. It does have a lot of variations in wording.

Your google is as good as mine.

You're dealing with an expert fake saint quote debunker.

Your google is better than mine.

Do you think it is something Aquinas would have said, a guiding principle he followed, even if he was not the originator of that exact phrase?

It's often described as a "Scholastic axiom" (or principle), and St. Thomas is regarded as the greatest of the Scholastics. He often does work this way.

Yeah, shortly after posting I founded in in Leibniz hand written notes (or rather a printed collection). But, interestingly, the modern variation ( "never deny etc" doesn't seem as old, earliest of that variant seems to be 1926. I am as much interested by the startling difference in counsel as actual origin.

It is not- as such- in any extant Aquinas. But as a paraphrase, who knows?

That's not how it works. If you make a claim, you have to back it up. Do you write 'google it' in your essay footnotes?

You're working way too hard and going about it all wrong. Just do it the old fashioned way instead: forge a document with the phrase. You can do either a new document wholesale and put Thomas' name up top or, more commonly, create a manuscript of another work and interpolate the phrase somewhere that it kind of sort of might make sense. Problem solved.

I've seen the quote on a Facebook Meme that had St. Thomas' picture on it. So, that's pretty strong evidence.

FJ

Q.E.D.