Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority.
FRANCIS BACON If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.
FRANCIS BACON There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not tr...
FRANCIS BACON Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity...
FRANCIS BACON In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.
FRANCIS BACON Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do giv...
FRANCIS BACON Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him...
FRANCIS BACON If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will content to begin with d...
FRANCIS BACON Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible.
FRANCIS BACON Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted... but to weigh and consider...
FRANCIS BACON Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.
FRANCIS BACON The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.
FRANCIS BACON Religion brought forth riches, and the daughter devoured the mother. [Lat., Religio peperit divit...
FRANCIS BACON The greatest vicissitude of things amongst men, is the vicissitude of sects and religions.
FRANCIS BACON There was never law, or set, or opinion did so much magnify goodness, as the Christian religion dot...
FRANCIS BACON But no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of Truth.
FRANCIS BACON The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss, and co...
FRANCIS BACON A little philosophy inclineth men's minds to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds ...
FRANCIS BACON A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
FRANCIS BACON Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.
FRANCIS BACON Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed.
FRANCIS BACON Nothing destroys authority so much as the unequal and untimely interchange of power, pressed too far...
FRANCIS BACON One of the Seven was wont to say: "That laws were like cobwebs; where the small flies were caught,...
FRANCIS BACON We cannot command nature except by obeying her.
FRANCIS BACON Vain-glorious men are the scorn of the wise, the admiration of fools, the idols of paradise, and the...
FRANCIS BACON Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and fitter for...
FRANCIS BACON Riches are a good handmaiden, but the worst mistress.
FRANCIS BACON For knowledge, too, is itself a power. [Lat., Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.]
FRANCIS BACON Knowledge bloweth up, but charity buildeth up.
FRANCIS BACON Knowledge and human power are synonymous, since the ignorance of the cause frustrates the effect.
FRANCIS BACON For all knowledge and wonder (which is the seed of knowledge) is an impression of pleasure in itsel...
FRANCIS BACON If we do not maintain Justice, Justice will not maintain us.
FRANCIS BACON So that every wand or staff of empire is forsooth curved at top. [Lat., Adeo ut omnes imperii virg...
FRANCIS BACON States are great engines moving slowly.
FRANCIS BACON They that deny a God destroy man's nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body;...
FRANCIS BACON Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and soli...
FRANCIS BACON The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused m...
FRANCIS BACON If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin wit...
FRANCIS BACON Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.
FRANCIS BACON The general root of superstition : namely, that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss;...
FRANCIS BACON Wives are young men's mistresses; companions for middle age, and old men's nurses.
FRANCIS BACON If money be not they servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to ...
FRANCIS BACON No man's fortune can be an end worthy of his being.
FRANCIS BACON Money makes a good servant, but a bad master.
FRANCIS BACON Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.
FRANCIS BACON Be not penny-wise. Riches have wings. Sometimes they fly away of themselves, and sometimes they must...
FRANCIS BACON To be free minded and cheerfully disposed at hours of meat and sleep and of exercise is one of the b...
FRANCIS BACON Life, an age to the miserable, and a moment to the happy.
FRANCIS BACON Without friends the world is but a wilderness. There is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend...
FRANCIS BACON The worst solitude is to have no real friendships.
FRANCIS BACON For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal,...
FRANCIS BACON Nuptial love makes mankind; friendly love perfects it; but wanton love corrupts and debases it.
FRANCIS BACON All of our actions take their hue from the complexion of the heart, as landscapes their variety from...
FRANCIS BACON It was prettily devised of Aesop, The fly sat on the axle tree of the chariot wheel and said, what ...
FRANCIS BACON There be three things which make a nation great and prosperous: a fertile soil, busy workshops, easy...
FRANCIS BACON Ask counsel of both timesof the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time what is fittest.
FRANCIS BACON Croesus said to Cambyses; That peace was better than war; because in peace the sons did bury their f...
FRANCIS BACON Nay, number itself in armies importeth not much, where the people is of weak courage; for, as Virgil...
FRANCIS BACON He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune, for they are impediments to great ent...
FRANCIS BACON Discern of the coming on of years, and think not to do the same things still; for age will not be de...
FRANCIS BACON Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom driv...
FRANCIS BACON Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.
FRANCIS BACON I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death.
FRANCIS BACON It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the...
FRANCIS BACON Silence is the virtue of fools.
FRANCIS BACON Believing that I was born for the service of mankind, and regarding the care of the commonwealth as ...
FRANCIS BACON People of great position are servants times three, servants of their country, servants of fame, and ...
FRANCIS BACON Science is but an image of the truth.
FRANCIS BACON The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss; and co...
FRANCIS BACON Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.
FRANCIS BACON Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.
FRANCIS BACON A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.
FRANCIS BACON Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more a man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed...
FRANCIS BACON The mould of a man's fortune is in his own hands.
FRANCIS BACON Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discou...
FRANCIS BACON Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discou...
FRANCIS BACON I hold every man a debtor to his profession.
FRANCIS BACON He that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils: for Time is the greatest innovator: and ...
FRANCIS BACON Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.
FRANCIS BACON All colors will agree in the dark.
FRANCIS BACON Nothing destroys authority more than the unequal and untimely interchange of power stretched too far...
FRANCIS BACON It is a strange desire, to seek power and lose liberty, or to seek power over others and to lose pow...
FRANCIS BACON It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.
FRANCIS BACON In thinking, if a person begins with certainties, they shall end in doubts, but if they can begin wi...
FRANCIS BACON Philosophers make imaginary laws for imaginary commonwealths, and their discourses are as the stars,...
FRANCIS BACON We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.
FRANCIS BACON Who ever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul.
FRANCIS BACON Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwre...
FRANCIS BACON The joys of parents are secret, and so are their grieves and fears.
FRANCIS BACON Riches are a good hand maiden, but a poor mistress.
FRANCIS BACON The fortune which nobody sees makes a person happy and unenvied.
FRANCIS BACON The best armor is to keep out of gunshot.
FRANCIS BACON Certainly virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant when they are incensed, or crushed: for prosp...
FRANCIS BACON Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety.
FRANCIS BACON Of great wealth there is no real use, except in its distribution, the rest is just conceit.
FRANCIS BACON Truth arises more readily from error than from confusion.
FRANCIS BACON What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer.
FRANCIS BACON It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in...
FRANCIS BACON Truth is a naked and open daylight
FRANCIS BACON Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit...
FRANCIS BACON There is a difference between happiness and wisdom: he that thinks himself the happiest man is reall...
FRANCIS BACON Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, o...
FRANCIS BACON If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics.
FRANCIS BACON Riches are for spending.
FRANCIS BACON For it is not possible to join serpentine wisdom with columbine innocency, except men know exactly a...
FRANCIS BACON None of the affections have been noted to fascinate and bewitch but envy.
FRANCIS BACON God has placed no limits to the exercise of the intellect he has given us, on this side of the grave...
FRANCIS BACON It is not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save tha...
FRANCIS BACON As the births of living creatures, at first, are ill-shapen: so are all Innovations, which are the b...
FRANCIS BACON Imagination was given man to compensate for what he is not, and a sense of humor to console him for ...
FRANCIS BACON Our humanity is a poor thing, except for the divinity that stirs within us.
FRANCIS BACON Opportunity makes a thief.
FRANCIS BACON Nakedness is uncomely, as well in mind as body, and it addeth no small reverence to men's manners an...
FRANCIS BACON The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding.
FRANCIS BACON Nature is commanded by obeying her.
FRANCIS BACON This is the foundation of all. We are not to imagine or suppose, but to discover, what nature...
FRANCIS BACON The French are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are.
FRANCIS BACON Mysteries are due to secrecy.
FRANCIS BACON Suspicions that the mind, of itself, gathers, are but buzzes; but suspicions that are artificially n...
FRANCIS BACON In contemplation, if a man begins with certainties he shall end in doubts; but if he be content to b...
FRANCIS BACON Philosophy when superficially studied, excites doubt, when thoroughly explored, it dispels it.
FRANCIS BACON Suspicion amongst thoughts are like bats amongst birds, they never fly by twilight.
FRANCIS BACON There is nothing makes a man suspect much, more than to know little, and therefore men should remedy...
FRANCIS BACON If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin wit...
FRANCIS BACON Cure the disease and kill the patient.
FRANCIS BACON Many a man's strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use.
FRANCIS BACON They are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they see nothing but sea.
FRANCIS BACON The great advantages of simulation and dissimulation are three. First to lay asleep opposition and t...
FRANCIS BACON Lies are sufficient to breed opinion, and opinion brings on substance.
FRANCIS BACON A graceful and pleasing figure is a perpetual letter of recommendation.
FRANCIS BACON Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more...
FRANCIS BACON They that deny a God destroy man's nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; ...
FRANCIS BACON God hangs the greatest weights upon the smallest wires.
FRANCIS BACON If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his...
FRANCIS BACON God almighty first planted a garden: and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasure.
FRANCIS BACON Therefore if a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see Fortune; for though she be blind, yet ...
FRANCIS BACON Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.
FRANCIS BACON The person is a poor judge who by an action can be disgraced more in failing than they can be honore...
FRANCIS BACON Houses are built to live in, and not to look on: therefore let use be preferred before uniformity.
FRANCIS BACON It is the true office of history to represent the events themselves, together with the counsels, and...
FRANCIS BACON Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, gra...
FRANCIS BACON For my name and memory I leave to men's charitable speeches, and to foreign nations and the next age...
FRANCIS BACON A healthy body is a guest chamber for the soul: a sick body is a prison.
FRANCIS BACON Studies perfect nature and are perfected still by experience.
FRANCIS BACON Studies serve for delight, for ornaments, and for ability.
FRANCIS BACON I would live to study, and not study to live.
FRANCIS BACON Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than conf...
FRANCIS BACON For knowledge itself is power.
FRANCIS BACON Knowledge and human power are synonymous.
FRANCIS BACON Next to religion, let your care be to promote justice.
FRANCIS BACON The place of justice is a hallowed place.
FRANCIS BACON If we do not maintain Justice, Justice will not maintain us.
FRANCIS BACON Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased...
FRANCIS BACON It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire and many things to fear.
FRANCIS BACON Fortune is like the market, where, many times, if you can stay a little, the price will fall.
FRANCIS BACON Ill Fortune never crushed that man whom good fortune deceived not.
FRANCIS BACON He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great ent...
FRANCIS BACON Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid.
FRANCIS BACON Good fame is like fire; when you have kindled you may easily preserve it; but if you extinguish it, ...
FRANCIS BACON Men on their side must force themselves for a while to lay their notions by and begin to familiarize...
FRANCIS BACON Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much.
FRANCIS BACON A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.
FRANCIS BACON A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.
FRANCIS BACON Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.
FRANCIS BACON In charity there is no excess.
FRANCIS BACON That things are changed, and that nothing really perishes, and that the sum of matter remains exactl...
FRANCIS BACON If we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and are patient i...
FRANCIS BACON Boldness is ever blind, for it sees not dangers and inconveniences whence it is bad in council thoug...
FRANCIS BACON The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is but to tune the ...
FRANCIS BACON Images also help me find and realise ideas. I look at hundreds of very different, contrasting images...
FRANCIS BACON In every great time there is some one idea at work which is more powerful than any other, and which ...
FRANCIS BACON Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects and please or displease only in the memory.
FRANCIS BACON The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express.
FRANCIS BACON There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.
FRANCIS BACON Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.
FRANCIS BACON Atheism is rather in the lip than in the heart of man.
FRANCIS BACON It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringe...
FRANCIS BACON I had rather believe all the Fables in the Legend, and the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this u...
FRANCIS BACON Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which...
FRANCIS BACON Anger makes dull men witty -- but it keeps them poor.
FRANCIS BACON He that gives good advice builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example builds with b...
FRANCIS BACON There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself,...
FRANCIS BACON Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes.
FRANCIS BACON They that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils.
FRANCIS BACON Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.
FRANCIS BACON People usually think according to their inclinations, speak according to their learning and ingraine...
FRANCIS BACON God's first creature, which was light.
FRANCIS BACON Speech of yourself ought to be seldom and well chosen.
FRANCIS BACON Look to make your course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect.
FRANCIS BACON The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs.
FRANCIS BACON A good conscience is a continual feast.
FRANCIS BACON The wisdom of our ancestors.
FRANCIS BACON Custom is the principle magistrate of man's life.
FRANCIS BACON Men commonly think according to their inclinations, speak according to their learning and imbibed op...
FRANCIS BACON Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.
FRANCIS BACON Boldness is a child of ignorance.
FRANCIS BACON Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; Adversity is the blessing of the New.
FRANCIS BACON All authority must be out of a man's self, turned . . . either upon an art, or upon a man. - ...
FRANCIS BACON The World's a bubble, and the Life of Man less than a span: In his conception wretched, from the w...
FRANCIS BACON Men fear Death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increas...
FRANCIS BACON