Famous Quotes of Sir Francis Bacon

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Sir Francis Bacon
Sir Francis Bacon

Sir Francis Bacon was a 17th century English courtier and philosopher. While his political career ended in resignation and a short prison sentence, his philosophical pursuits were much more lucrative. He played an integral role in the scientific revolution of the English Renaissance. Bacon set up a new method of experimentation and reinvented the way man interacted with the world around him scientifically. Many have credited him as the founding father of deductive reasoning, which set an early precedent for modern scientific method.

‘A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.’

While finding opportunities is certainly a skill, those who are successful are great at making opportunities when there originally were none.

‘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.’

People who are truly virtuous remain at their best even when they face obstacles in life. Often it is the poor and downtrodden that remain the most virtuous. The rich and privileged have a way of finding trouble, because they have a lot of extra time and resources that the poor do not.

‘Seek ye first the good things of the mind, and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt.’

Nourishing your mind and soul will allow everything else good to come to you naturally. Even if something does not come as you expected, you will not miss it because you are in a positive mental state.

‘Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man’s nature runs to the more ought law to weed it out.’

Seeking justice through the system is essential because the act of revenge is entirely dependent on the emotions of the person seeking justice. Oftentimes these emotions make people overly zealous in punishing a person, to the point where they are no longer seeking justice, but simply abusing the person that has wronged them.

‘Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.’

Reading allows a person to become more in-tune and empathetic with the world around them. ‘Conference’ or conversation makes a person more quick on their feet and forces the mind to respond swiftly. Writing forces a person to express their opinions in exact terms and precisely express exactly what they are thinking.

‘Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.’

You must never read something with the intentions of finding opinions that specifically agree or contradict your own. You must always dive into a text with the intention of analyzing what it has to say and how that applies to your own understanding of life.

‘Death is a friend of ours; and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home.’

Though death is often viewed as an object of fear, here Bacon points out that death is a very natural part of life that should be embraced. Those who resist it are not fully comfortable with themselves or the transitory nature of life.

‘In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior.’

A person seeking revenge is not rational. It is quite likely that they will become enveloped by their rage and not seek true justice, but satisfy their bloodthirsty desires. At that point, you are no better than the person you are attempting to punish. Fighting off this desire requires a strong will.

‘I have taken all knowledge to be my province.’

Bacon’s bold declaration reveals that there is no fact that humankind will not strive to know. It is in man’s nature to acquire knowledge.

‘Praise from the common people is generally false, and rather follows the vain than the virtuous.’

Most people compliment in order to advance themselves socially or get within someone’s good graces. Sincere compliments are in short supply. Always take compliments you receive from acquaintances or people you’ve just met with a grain of salt.

“Little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth. 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.”

Though it is in human nature to desire company, here Bacon points out that it is the quality of the company rather than the quantity that truly matters. The presence of others can sometimes be more oppressive than comforting if there is no emotional connection.

‘Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.’

Talent will not carry you to success. All natural talents must be cultivated and tamed through education and study. No great masterpiece came out perfectly the first time. Everything requires a little bit of editing,.

‘In this theater of man’s life, it is reserved only for God and for angels to be lookers-on.’

The life of one individual can often feel lonely, because you and the creator are the only one that gets to see everything you think and go through.

‘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.’

Though confidence is not always a negative quality, being very assured in your beliefs and opinions will often lead to a breaking point. As soon as you come upon something that contradicts your certainties, your entire belief system will be broken. However, if you take information as it comes to you and form ideas from there, you will surely come to more stable conclusions.

‘He of whom many are afraid ought to fear many.’

When many people fear the power of a single individual, that individual should be worried of the possible consequences of the fearful or oppressed group attempting to rebel or seize power.

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