Francis Bacon Quotes (437 Quotes)


    No man's fortune can be an end worthy of his being.

    The joys of parents are secret, and so are their grieves and fears.

    Above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is Nunc dimittis, when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy.

    What is it then to have or have no wife, But single thraldom, or a double strife

    The best preservative to keep the mind on health is the faithful admonition of a friend.


    If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

    The worst solitude is to be destitute of sincere friendship.

    A man finds himself seven years older the day after his marriage.

    A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

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


    It is a secret both in nature and state, that it is safer to change many things than one.

    If we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts but if we begin with doubts, and are patient in them, we shall end in certainties.


    A king is one who has few things to desire and many things to fear.

    A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he has lost no time.

    It is not the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in, and settleth in it, that doth the hurt.

    A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.

    The light that a man receiveth by counsel from another is drier and purer than that which cometh from his own understanding and judgment, which is ever infused and drenched in his affections and customs.

    Speech of yourself ought to be seldom and well chosen.

    One of the Seven was wont to say 'Laws were like cobwebs where the small flies were caught, and the great brake through.'

    The eye of the understanding is like the eye of the sense for as you may see great objects through small crannies or holes, so you may see great axioms of nature through small and contemptible instances.

    Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God.

    People have discovered that they can fool the devil; but they can't fool the neighbors.

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


    It is nothing won to admit men with an open door, yet to receive them with a shut and reserved countenance.

    Riches are a good hand maiden, but a poor mistress.

    To say that a man lieth, is as much to say, as that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards Men.

    There is no great concurrence between learning and wisdom.

    It friendship redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in halves.

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

    Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.

    A crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures.


    The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense the last was the light of reason And his Sabbath work ever since is the illumination of his Spirit.

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

    In things that a man would not be seen in himself, it is a point of cunning to borrow the name of the world as to say, The world says, or There is a speech abroad.

    The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.

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

    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.

    The job of the artist is to deepen the mystery.

    Discern of the coming on of years, and think not to do the same things still for age will not be defied.

    Champagne for my sham friends real pain for my real friends.

    How can I take an interest in my work when I don't like it.

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

    It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.

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

    Prosperity discovers vice, adversity discovers virtue.

    The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man.


    More Francis Bacon Quotations (Based on Topics)


    Man - Wisdom & Knowledge - Nature - Mind - Money & Wealth - Time - Truth - God - Power - Friendship - Vice & Virtue - Life - Education - Pleasure - Philosophy - Fate & Destiny - Speech - Light - Books - View All Francis Bacon Quotations

    Related Authors


    Karl Marx - John Stuart Mill - Heraclitus - David Hume - Theodor Adorno - Michel de Montaigne - John Dewey - Guru Nanak - Charles de Montesquieu - Avicenna


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