The essays; or, Counsels moral, economical, and political, by sir F. Bacon |
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Page 9
... tion and devotion . Concerning the bonds of Unity ; the true placing of them importeth exceedingly . There appear to be two extremes . For to certain zealots all speech of pacification is odious . " Is it peace , Jehu ? what hast thou ...
... tion and devotion . Concerning the bonds of Unity ; the true placing of them importeth exceedingly . There appear to be two extremes . For to certain zealots all speech of pacification is odious . " Is it peace , Jehu ? what hast thou ...
Page 16
... tion of the ancient poets , which seemeth not to be without mystery ; nay , and to have some approach to the state of a Christian : that " Hercules , when he went to unbind Prometheus , ( by whom human nature is represented ) sailed the ...
... tion of the ancient poets , which seemeth not to be without mystery ; nay , and to have some approach to the state of a Christian : that " Hercules , when he went to unbind Prometheus , ( by whom human nature is represented ) sailed the ...
Page 17
... tion to Tiberius . And again , when Mucianus en- courageth Vespasian to take arms against Vitellius , he saith , “ We rise not against the piercing judg- ment of Augustus , nor the extreme caution or close- ness of Tiberius . " These ...
... tion to Tiberius . And again , when Mucianus en- courageth Vespasian to take arms against Vitellius , he saith , “ We rise not against the piercing judg- ment of Augustus , nor the extreme caution or close- ness of Tiberius . " These ...
Page 32
... tion . It is a disease in a state like to infection : for as infection spreadeth upon that which is sound , and tainteth it ; so when Envy is gotten once in a State , it traduceth even the best actions thereof , and turneth them into an ...
... tion . It is a disease in a state like to infection : for as infection spreadeth upon that which is sound , and tainteth it ; so when Envy is gotten once in a State , it traduceth even the best actions thereof , and turneth them into an ...
Page 33
... tion of Envy ; that , of all other affections , it is the most importune and continual . For of other affec- tions there is occasion given but now and then . And therefore it was well said , " Envy never keeps holiday , " i . e . is ...
... tion of Envy ; that , of all other affections , it is the most importune and continual . For of other affec- tions there is occasion given but now and then . And therefore it was well said , " Envy never keeps holiday , " i . e . is ...
Common terms and phrases
actions Ęsop affections amongst ancient arms arts Atheism Augustus Cęsar better beware body Boldness Cęsar cause Certainly Cicero cometh command commonly corrupt coun counsel Counsellors cunning custom danger Death Discontentments discourse Dispatch doth Envy Epicurus Epimetheus Evil fame favour fear fore fortune fruit of Friendship Galba Garden give giveth goeth greater greatest hand hath heart Henry VII honour hurt Judge judgment Julius Cęsar keep keeper of promise kind king lastly less likewise Love maketh man's matter means men's mind motion nature never nizaries Nobility noble opinion persons Plutarch Pompey princes religion remedy rest Riches Romans saith secret Seditions seemeth Septimius Severus servants side soldiers sometimes sort speak speech Superstition sure Tacitus teth things thou thought Tiberius tion true unto Usury Vespasian virtue whereas whereby wherein whereof wise
Popular passages
Page 3 - It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof below : but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene,) and to see the errors and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below:" so always that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling or pride.
Page 191 - STUDIES serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring ; for ornament, is in discourse ; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one ; but the general counsels, and the plots, and marshalling of affairs come best from those that are learned.
Page 1 - WHAT is Truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer. Certainly there be that delight in giddiness', and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting.
Page 64 - IT were better to have no opinion of God at all, than such an opinion as is unworthy of him; for the one is unbelief, the other is contumely: and certainly superstition is the reproach of the Deity. Plutarch saith well to that purpose:
Page 4 - MEN fear Death, as children fear to go in the dark ; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. Certainly, the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin and passage to another world, is holy and religious ; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. Yet in religious meditations there is sometimes mixture of vanity and of superstition. You shall read in some of the friars...
Page 174 - GOD ALMIGHTY first planted a garden. And, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures ; it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks.
Page 163 - Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success.
Page 5 - It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates ' and masters the fear of death; and therefore death is no such terrible enemy when a man hath so many attendants about him that can win the combat of him. Revenge triumphs over death ; Love slights it; Honour aspireth to it; Grief flieth to it; Fear pre-occupateth it...
Page 38 - But power to do good is the true and lawful end of aspiring. For good thoughts (though God accept them) yet towards men are little better than good dreams, except they be put in act; and that cannot be without power and place, as the vantage and commanding ground.
Page 93 - It is good also not to try experiments in States, except the necessity be urgent, or the utility evident; and well to beware that it be the reformation that draweth on the change, and not the desire of change that pretendeth the reformation...