Christianity taught men that love is worth more than intelligence.

Maritain’s line contrasts two kinds of “worth”: the instrumental power of intelligence and the moral-spiritual primacy of love (caritas). In a broadly Thomistic key, he treats intellect as essential for truth, but insufficient for the highest human fulfillment; Christianity, he suggests, reorders values by placing self-giving love—modeled on divine love and expressed in charity—above sheer brilliance or cleverness. The remark also implies a critique of modern cultures that idolize IQ, technique, or rational mastery while neglecting the personal and ethical dimension. Love here is not sentimentality but a higher form of knowledge and commitment that dignifies persons and directs intelligence toward the good.