Francis Bacon was a brilliant thinker and philosopher who had a lot of wisdom to share. His quotes are insightful and thought-provoking, and they can help you to see the world in a new way. Here are some of my favorite Francis Bacon quotes.
Born in London in 1561, Francis Bacon was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, a statesman and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. From a young age, Bacon showed a keen interest in learning and science, and was educated at Cambridge University.
After leaving university, Bacon entered politics and served as an advisor to the Queen. However, he soon became disillusioned with politics and turned his attention to science.
Bacon is best known for his work in science and philosophy. He developed the scientific method, which is still used today. He also wrote extensively on the topics of human knowledge and understanding. In his work, Bacon emphasised the importance of observation and experimentation, and argued that the acquisition of knowledge should be based on empirical evidence.
There is no doubt that Francis Bacon has left an impressive legacy on the world. He was a philosopher, scientist, and statesman who made significant contributions to all three fields. His philosophy was based on the idea of empiricism, which holds that all knowledge comes from observation.
He also developed the scientific method, which is the basis of modern science. As a statesman, he was instrumental in reforming the English legal system. His legacy is evident in the many achievements of modern science and in the legal systems of many countries.
70 Francis Bacon Quotes
- “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”
2. “It is impossible to love and be wise.”
3. “Knowledge is power.”
4. “Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.”
5. “Money is a great servant but a bad master.”
6. “It is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everybody else, and still unknown to himself.”
7. “If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.”
8. “Constancy is the foundation of virtues”
9. “Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”
10. “Silence is the virtue of fools.”
11. “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”
12. “If a book is not worth reading twice, it is not worth reading once.”
Famous Francis Bacon Quotes
13. “Nature cannot be commanded except by being obeyed.”
14. “Wonder is the seed of knowledge”
15. “Age appears best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and old authors to read.”
16. “In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior.”
17. “Money is like manure, its only good if you spread it around.”
18. “Whosoever is delighted in Solitude, is either a wild Beast or a God.”
19. “Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.”
20. “The worst solitute is to be destitute of true friendship.”
21. “The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.”
22. “Revenge is a king of wild justice.”
23. “Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.”
24. “For the things of this world cannot be made known without a knowledge of mathematics.”
Thought-Provoking Francis Bacon Quotes
25. “There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not trying.”
26. “If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.”
27. “Reading maketh a full man; and writing an axact man. And, therefore, if a man write little, he need have a present wit; and if he read little, he need have much cunning to seem to know which he doth not.”
28. “A man dies as often as he loses his friends.”
29. “Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion.”
30. “If we are to achieve things never before accomplished we must employ methods never before attempted”
31. “Books speak plain when counselors blanch.”
32. “A man that is young in years may be old in hours if he have lost no time. ”
33. “Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety.”
34. “Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.”
Francis Bacon Quotes On Life, Love and Reading
35. “For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.”
36. “Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority.”
37. “Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted …but to weigh and consider.”
38. “Death is a friend of ours; and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home.”
39. “I wonder why it is that the countries with the most nobles also have the most misery?”
40. “Mixture of lie doeth ever add pleasure.”
41. “A false friend is more dangerous than an open enemy”
42. “The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.”
43. “Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends”
44. “A bachelor’s life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner.”
45. “The folly of one man is the fortune of another.”
46. “Sense sends to Imagination before Reason have judged, & Reason sends over to Imagination before decree can be acted.”
47. “To suffering there is a limit; to fearing, none.”
48. “Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.”
49. “By far the best proof is experience.”
50. “Men fear death as children fear to go into the dark and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other”
51. “They are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they can see nothing but sea.”
52. “If a man is gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows that he is a citizen of the world.”
53. “Truth is a good dog; but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out.”
54. “The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express. ”
55. “It’s all so meaningless, we may as well be extraordinary.”
56. “Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.”
57. “A Man must make his opportunity,as oft as find it ”
58. “it might be a long trip, so be careful not to wear your shoes out: you might need them in the afterlife.”
59. “There arises from a bad and inapt formation of words, a wonderful obstruction to the mind.”
60. “Where a man cannot fitly play his own part; if he have not a friend, he may quit the stage.”
61. “Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”
62. “Nothing is so mischievous as the apotheosis of error.”
63. “If a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see fortune; for though she be blind, yet she is not invisible.”
64. “So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics.”
65. “Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.”
66. “Libraries are as the shrine where all the relics of the ancient saints, full of true virtue, and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved and reposed.”
67. “Worthy books are not companions – they are solitudes: we lose ourselves in them and all our cares”
68. “Good thoughts are little better than good dreams, except they be put in action.”
69. “Look upon good books; they are true friends, that will neither flatter nor dissemble: be you but true to yourself…and you shall need no other comfort nor counsel.”
70. “For better it is to make a beginning of that which may lead to something, than to engage in a perpetual struggle and pursuit in courses which have no exit.”