Francis Bacon
English philosopher, statesman and essayist, 1561-1626
60 quotes.
Quotes by Francis Bacon
- A good name is like precious ointment; it filleth all round about, and will not easily away; for the odors of ointments are more durable than those of flowers.
- A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he have lost no time.
- A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket, and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable, and should be secured, because they seldom return.
- A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds: therefore let him seasonably water the one and destroy the other.
- A wise man will make more opportunities, than he finds.
- Be not penny-wise; riches have wings; sometimes they fly away of themselves, and sometimes they must be set flying to bring in more.
- Certainly virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant when they are incensed, or crushed: for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.
- For knowledge, too, is itself a power.
- Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.
- God hangs the greatest weights on the smallest wires.
- He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good counsel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.
- He that questioneth much will learn much.
- He that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green.
- He that studieth revenge keepeth his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.
- He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.
- Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
- If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that it may be said to possess him.
- If we are to achieve things never before accomplished we must employ methods never before attempted
- In contemplation, if a man begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.
- It is a mere and miserable solitude to want true friends, without which the world is but a wilderness.
- It’s not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.
- Knowledge and human power are synonymous, since the ignorance of the cause frustrates the effect.
- Knowledge is not a shop for profit or sale, but a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator, and the relief of men's estate.
- Money is a great servant but a bad master.
- Money is like manure, of very little use except it be spread.
- Money is like muck (manure), not good except it be spread.
- Nature, to be controlled, must be obeyed.
- No pleasure is comparable to standing upon the vantage-ground of truth.
- Nothing is terrible except fear itself.
- Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing.
- Prosperity doth best discover vice, and adversity doth best discover virtue.
- Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.
- Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.
- Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
- Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.... Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtile; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.
- Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more it spreads in human nature, the more ought the law to weed it out; for the first injury only offends the law, but revenge entirely sets aside its authority.
- Riches are a good handmaid, but the worst mistress.
- Rising to great place is by a winding stair.
- Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly.
- Seek the good of other men, but be not in bondage to their faces or fancies; for that is but facility, or softness; which taketh an honest mind prisoner.