Francis Bacon Quotes
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Philosophers make imaginary laws for imaginary commonwealths, and their discourses are as the stars, which give little light because they are so high.
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Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.
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Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation, all which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, though religion were not; but superstition dismounts all these, and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men.
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I feel ever so strongly that an artist must be nourished by his passions and his despairs. These things alter an artist whether for the good or the better or the worse. It must alter him. The feelings of desperation and unhappiness are more useful to an artist than the feeling of contentment, because desperation and unhappiness stretch your whole sensibility.
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Men in great place are thrice servants,-servants of the sovereign or state, servants of fame, and servants of business.
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Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new.
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Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.
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I believe in deeply ordered chaos.
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Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time.
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Those herbs which perfume the air most delightfully, not passed by as the rest, but, being trodden upon and crushed, are three; that is, burnet, wild thyme and watermints. Therefore, you are to set whole alleys of them, to have the pleasure when you walk or tread.
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Knowledge is power.
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Studies perfect nature and are perfected still by experience.
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Rebellions of the belly are the worst.
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The master of superstition, is the people; and in all superstition, wise men follow fools; and arguments are fitted to practice, in a reversed order.
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Nothing destroys authority more than the unequal and untimely interchange of power stretched too far and relaxed too much.
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Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.
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Then bless thy secret growth, nor catch At noise, but thrive unseen and dumb; Keep clean, be as fruit, earn life, and watch, Till the white-wing'd reapers come.
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Discretion in speech is more than eloquence.
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God has, in fact, written two books, not just one. Of course, we are all familiar with the first book he wrote, namely Scripture. But he has written a second book called creation.
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The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs.
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I don't think people are born artists; I think it comes from a mixture of your surroundings, the people you meet, and luck.
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The cord breaketh at last by the weakest pull.
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Therefore if a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see Fortune; for though she be blind, yet she is not invisible.
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Primum quaerite bona animi; caetera aut aderunt, aut non oberunt