"The Idols of the Theatre are not innate, nor do they steal into the understanding from the secret channels of the mind, but are plainly impressed and received from the various dogmas of philosophies, …"

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

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

"For the mind, when it is once possessed with an opinion, draws all things else to confirm and agree with it."

"Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend."