Quotes By Francis Bacon

There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not trying.

There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer. For there is no such flatterer as is a man's self.

Acorns were good until bread was found.

Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.

Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor.

People usually think according to their inclinations, speak according to their learning and ingrained opinions, but generally act according to custom.

Rebellions of the belly are the worst.

For my name and memory I leave to men's charitable speeches, and to foreign nations and the next ages.

They that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils.

There is a wisdom in this beyond the rules of physic: a man's own observation what he finds good of and what he finds hurt of is the best physic to preserve health.

They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea.

It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other.

Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time.

Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion.

Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.

It is a strange desire, to seek power, and to lose liberty; or to seek power over others, and to lose power over a man's self.

Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.

Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business.

I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am.

The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding.

Children sweeten labours, but they make misfortunes more bitter.

The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.

It is in life as it is in ways, the shortest way is commonly the foulest, and surely the fairer way is not much about.

The place of justice is a hallowed place.

Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.

Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.

The remedy is worse than the disease.

God has placed no limits to the exercise of the intellect he has given us, on this side of the grave.