"The One, the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, these are what we call the transcendental attributes of Being, because they surpass all the limits of essences and are coextensive with Being"
About this Quote
The subtext is polemical. Written in a 20th-century Europe marred by total war and ideological reductionism, Balthasar is pushing back against modern habits of severing truth from goodness, goodness from beauty, and all three from “what is.” When truth becomes merely procedural, goodness becomes private preference; when beauty is dismissed as ornament, the world loses its ability to “show” meaning rather than just assert it. Balthasar’s wager is that theology can’t survive that disintegration, because Christian revelation claims not only that God is true and good, but that God’s glory has form - a beauty that persuades without coercion.
That’s why the sentence is built like a ladder. It starts with a quartet that sounds almost like a slogan, then snaps into metaphysical rigor: “coextensive with Being.” He’s not offering comfort; he’s drawing battle lines over whether reality itself can still be trusted to mean something.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: A Résumé of My Thought (Hans Urs von Balthasar, 1988)
Evidence: The One, the Good, the True and the Beautiful, these are what we call the transcendental attributes of Being, because they surpass all the limits of essences and are coextensive with Being. (pp. 468–473 (quote appears in this article; exact page not confirmed from the accessible copy)). This wording matches the quote as circulated online (e.g., BrainyQuote) and is presented as part of von Balthasar’s own text in “A Résumé of My Thought.” The Balthasar & Speyr site identifies the primary publication as: Communio: International Catholic Review 15 (Washington, Winter 1988), 468–473 (modified translation). The site also states the original title is French (“Essai de résumer ma pensée”). I did not find evidence of an earlier publication date than Winter 1988 in the sources consulted, nor did I retrieve a scan of the original 1988 Communio issue to verify the exact page within 468–473 where the sentence occurs; therefore the first-publication claim is supported to the level of the journal citation but not independently corroborated by a facsimile of the 1988 issue. Other candidates (1) Hans Urs von Balthasar (David Schindler, 2011) compilation99.1% ... The One , the Good , the True , and the Beautiful , these are what we call the transcendental attributes of Being... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. (2026, February 25). The One, the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, these are what we call the transcendental attributes of Being, because they surpass all the limits of essences and are coextensive with Being. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-one-the-good-the-true-and-the-beautiful-these-53921/
Chicago Style
Balthasar, Hans Urs von. "The One, the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, these are what we call the transcendental attributes of Being, because they surpass all the limits of essences and are coextensive with Being." FixQuotes. February 25, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-one-the-good-the-true-and-the-beautiful-these-53921/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The One, the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, these are what we call the transcendental attributes of Being, because they surpass all the limits of essences and are coextensive with Being." FixQuotes, 25 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-one-the-good-the-true-and-the-beautiful-these-53921/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
