Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Francis Bacon Philosopher

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: England
  • Born: Jan 22, 1561
  • Died: Apr 9, 1626

Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban, QC, was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, essayist, and author. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. After his death, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method during the scientific revolution.

Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. His works established and popularised inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry, often called the Baconian method, or simply the scientific method. His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which still surrounds conceptions of proper methodology today.

Bacon was knighted in 1603, and created Baron Verulam in 1618 and Viscount St. Alban in 1621; as he died without heirs, both peerages became extinct upon his death. He famously died of pneumonia, contracted while studying the effects of freezing on the preservation of meat.

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. truth

Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes adversity not without many comforts and hopes. fear

Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set. best

Life, an age to the miserable, and a moment to the happy. age

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

Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly. change

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom. wisdom

Knowledge and human power are synonymous. knowledge & power

A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion. men & religion

Next to religion, let your care be to promote justice. religion

Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible. truth

The worst men often give the best advice. best & men

The desire of excessive power caused the angels to fall the desire of knowledge caused men to fall. knowledge & power

Wise men make more opportunities than they find. men & wisdom

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

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

What is truth? said jesting Pilate and would not stay for an answer. truth

Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men. best & men

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not a sense of humor to console him for what he is. humor & imagination

It is impossible to love and to be wise. love & wisdom

If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics. science

A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green. anger

The momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or evil. art

He that hath knowledge spareth his words. knowledge

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. wisdom

Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed. nature

Friendship increases in visiting friends, but in visiting them seldom. friendship

The great end of life is not knowledge but action. great & knowledge

God's first creature, which was light. God

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. power

Wives are young men's mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men's nurses. age, men & women

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

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper. hope

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

We cannot command Nature except by obeying her. nature

A bachelor's life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner. life

Money is like manure, of very little use except it be spread. money

God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures. gardening & God

Many a man's strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use. strength

Who ever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul. patience

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished. nature

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

God hangs the greatest weights upon the smallest wires. God

He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. great

Acorns were good until bread was found. good

Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark and as that natural fear in children is increased by tales, so is the other. death & fear

Science is but an image of the truth. science & truth

But men must know, that in this theatre of man's life it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers on. God & men

Age appears to be best in four things old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. age, best & trust

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise. men

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. beauty

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

Studies perfect nature and are perfected still by experience. experience & nature

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

Fashion is only the attempt to realize art in living forms and social intercourse. art

Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the Infinite. beauty

Friends are thieves of time. time

I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death. death

By indignities men come to dignities. men

He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils for time is the greatest innovator. change & time

When a man laughs at his troubles he loses a great many friends. They never forgive the loss of their prerogative. great

Knowledge is power. knowledge & power

The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express. beauty & best

Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority. time & truth

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

Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion. truth

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