Francis Bacon
Father of the scientific method
Most quoted
"Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers for the observers of his law. The people assembled: Mahomet called the hill to come to him again and again; and at the last took occasion to chide their weakness and slavish disposition."
— from Essays, 1625
"For the mind of man is far from the nature of a clear and equal glass, wherein the beams of things should reflect according to their true incidence; but it is rather like an enchanted glass, full of superstition and imposture, if it be not regulated and corrected by the rules of true philosophy."
— from The Advancement of Learning, 1605
"The true method of experience first lights the candle, and then by means of the candle shows the way; commencing as it does with experience duly ordered and digested, not bungling or erratic, and from it eliciting axioms, and from established axioms again new experiments."
— from Novum Organum, 1620
All quotes by Francis Bacon (233)
For a man to be a great statesman, he must be a good actor.
It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire, and many things to fear.
In order to govern, one must know how to make use of the passions of men.
The best way to represent truth is to show it in its naked simplicity.
He that is without money, means, and content, is without friends.
The more you know, the more you know you don't know.
To be ignorant of causes is to be frustrated in action.
The greatest wisdom is to know oneself.
The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss.
Truth is a good nurse, but a bad mother.
For a man to take a wife, is to commit himself to the ocean of life.
It is a great happiness for a man to have a true friend.
Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond or carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights.
The mind of man is far from the nature of a clear and equal glass, wherein the beams of things should reflect according to their true incidence.
The greatest error of all is to expect a conclusion from the senses, and then to try to make the understanding agree with it.
The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.
For the mind of man is not a dry light, but receives an infusion from the will and affections; and what a man desires to be true he more readily believes.
The less a man thinks, the more he talks.
The glory of God is to conceal a thing, but the glory of the king is to find it out.
The human understanding, from its peculiar nature, easily supposes a greater degree of order and equality in things than it really finds.
Contemporaries of Francis Bacon
Other Philosophys born within 50 years of Francis Bacon (1561–1626).