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He That Cometh To Seek After Knowledge, With A Mind To Scorn, Shall Be Sure To Find Matter For His Humour, But No Matter For His Instruction.
-Francis Bacon
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He That Cometh To

Francis Bacon
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He That Cometh To Seek After Knowledge, With A Mind To Scorn, Shall Be Sure To Find Matter For His Humour, But No Matter For His Instruction.

Understanding the Quote: "he that cometh to seek after knowledge, with a mind to scorn,..."

This quote by Francis Bacon reflects deeply on the theme of knowledge. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Knowledge, Mind, Matter, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Francis Bacon interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon is celebrated for insightful thoughts on knowledge and mind. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Knowledge
Mind
Matter
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Let The Mind Be Enlarged... To The Grandeur Of The Mysteries, And Not The Mysteries Contracted To The Narrowness Of The Mind
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Of All The Things In Nature, The Formation And Endowment Of Man Was Singled Out By The Ancients.
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The Only Hope [of Science] ... Is In Genuine Induction.
Hope
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An Illustrational Form Tells You Through The Intelligence Immediately What The Form Is About, Whereas A Non-illustrational Form Works First Upon Sensation And Then Slowly Leaks Back Into The Fact.
Firsts
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The Creative Process Is A Cocktail Of Instinct, Skill, Culture And A Highly Creative Feverishness.
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Princes Are Like Heavenly Bodies, Which Cause Good Or Evil Times, And Which Have Much Veneration, But No Rest.
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Men Ought To Find The Difference Between Saltiness And Bitterness. Certainly, He That Hath A Satirical Vein, As He Maketh Others Afraid Of His Wit, So He Had Need Be Afraid Of Others' Memory.
Memories
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The Inclination To Goodness Is Imprinted Deeply In The Nature Of Man.
Nature
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Money Is A Good Servant, A Dangerous Master.
Money
Wealth
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Hope Is The Most Beneficial Of All The Affections, And Doth Much To The Prolongation Of Life.
Anticipation
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The Joys Of Parents Are Secret, And So Are Their Grieves And Fears.
Fear
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The Momentous Thing In Human Life Is The Art Of Winning The Soul To Good Or Evil.
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Ill Fortune Never Crushed That Man Whom Good Fortune Deceived Not.
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The Partitions Of Knowledge Are Not Like Several Lines That Meet In One Angle, And So Touch Not In A Point; But Are Like Branches Of A Tree, That Meet In A Stem, Which Hath A Dimension And Quantity Of Entireness And Continuance, Before It Come To Discontinue And Break Itself Into Arms And Boughs.
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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. And A Man Shall Ever See, That When Ages Grow To Civility And Elegancy, Men Come To Build Stately Sooner Than To Garden Finely, As If Gardening Were The Greater Perfection.
Men
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But The Greatest Error Of All The Rest Is The Mistaking Or Misplacing Of The Last Or Farthest End Of Knowledge: For Men Have Entered Into A Desire Of Learning And Knowledge, Sometimes Upon A Natural Curiosity And Inquisitive Appetite; Sometimes To Entertain Their Minds With Variety And Delight; Sometimes For Ornament And Reputation; And Sometimes To Enable Them To Victory Of Wit And Contradiction; And Most Times For Lucre And Profession; And Seldom Sincerely To Give A True Account Of Their Gift Of Reason, To The Benefit And Use Of Men.
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Friendship Increases In Visiting Friends, But In Visiting Them Seldom.
Increase
Visiting
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.
Dog
Truth
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The Natures And Dispositions Of Men Are, Not Without Truth, Distinguished From The Predominance Of The Planets.
Men
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Seek Ye First The Good Things Of The Mind, And The Rest Will Either Be Supplied Or Its Loss Will Not Be Felt.
Happiness
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Fortune Is Like The Market, Where, Many Times, If You Can Stay A Little, The Price Will Fall.
Business
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Of All Things Known To Mortals, Wine Is The Most Powerful And Effectual For Exciting And Inflaming The Passions Of Mankind, Being Common Fuel To Them All.
Powerful
Passion
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Studies Serve For Delight, For Ornaments, And For Ability.
Ornaments
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Whence We See Spiders, Flies, Or Ants Entombed And Preserved Forever In Amber, A More Than Royal Tomb.
Forever
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Praise From The Common People Is Generally False, And Rather Follows The Vain Than The Virtuous.
People
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A Man Finds Himself Seven Years Older The Day After His Marriage.
Marriage
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Moreover, The Works Already Known Are Due To Chance And Experiment Rather Than To Sciences; For The Sciences We Now Possess Are Merely Systems For The Nice Ordering And Setting Forth Of Things Already Invented; Not Methods Of Invention Or Directions For New Works.
Nice
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Boldness Is Ever Blind, For It Sees Not Dangers And Inconveniences Whence It Is Bad In Council Though Good In Execution.
Execution
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All Painting Is An Accident. But It's Also Not An Accident, Because One Must Select What Part Of The Accident One Chooses To Preserve.
Painting
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Truth Is A Naked And Open Daylight, That Does Not Show The Masques, And Mummeries, And Triumphs Of The World, Half So Stately And Daintily As Candle-lights. . . A Mixture Of A Lie Doth Ever Add Pleasure
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The Remedy Is Worse Than The Disease.
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No Man's Fortune Can Be An End Worthy Of His Being.
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He That Hath A Wife And Children Hath Given Hostages To Fortune.
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I Feel Ever So Strongly That An Artist Must Be Nourished By His Passions And His Despairs. These Things Alter An Artist Whether For The Good Or The Better Or The Worse. It Must Alter Him. The Feelings Of Desperation And Unhappiness Are More Useful To An Artist Than The Feeling Of Contentment, Because Desperation And Unhappiness Stretch Your Whole Sensibility.
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I Work For Posterity, These Things Requiring Ages For Their Accomplishment.
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The Greatest Trust Between Man And Man Is The Trust Of Giving Counsel.
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Time Is The Author Of Authors.
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A Good Name Is Like Precious Ointment ; It Filleth All Round About, And Will Not Easily Away; For The Odors Of Ointments Are More Durable Than Those Of Flowers.
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When A Man Laughs At His Troubles He Loses A Great Many Friends. They Never Forgive The Loss Of Their Prerogative.
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I Paint For Myself. I Don't Know How To Do Anything Else, Anyway. Also I Have To Earn My Living, And Occupy Myself.
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Of All Virtues And Dignities Of The Mind, Goodness Is The Greatest
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Books Will Speak Plain When Counselors Blanch.
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In Philosophy, The Contemplations Of Man Do Either Penetrate Unto God, Or Are Circumferred To Nature, Or Are Reflected And Reverted Upon Himself. Out Of Which Several Inquiries There Do Arise Three Knowledges, Divine Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, And Human Philosophy Or Humanity. For All Things Are Marked And Stamped With This Triple Character Of The Power Of God, The Difference Of Nature And The Use Of Man.
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But This Is That Which Will Dignify And Exalt Knowledge: If Contemplation And Action Be More Nearly And Straitly Conjoined And United Together Than They Have Been: A Conjunction Like Unto That Of The Highest Planets, Saturn, The Planet Of Rest And Contemplation, And Jupiter, The Planet Of Civil Society And Action.
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It Is Natural To Die As To Be Born.
Death
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It Is Not The Lie That Passeth Through The Mind, But The Lie That Sinketh In And Settleth In It, That Doth The Hurt.
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Why Should A Man Be In Love With His Fetters, Though Of Gold?
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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.
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The Men Of Experiment Are Like The Ant, They Only Collect And Use; The Reasoners Resemble Spiders, Who Make Cobwebs Out Of Their Own Substance. But The Bee Takes The Middle Course, It Gathers Its Material From The Flowers Of The Garden And Field, But Transforms And Digests It By A Power Of Its Own.
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But By Far The Greatest Obstacle To The Progress Of Science And To The Undertaking Of New Tasks And Provinces Therein Is Found In This-that Men Despair And Think Things Impossible.
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Acorns Were Good Until Bread Was Found.
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Dreams, And Predictions Of Astrology....ought To Serve But For Winter Talk By The Fireside.
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Truth ... Is The Sovereign Good Of Human Nature.
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Love And Envy Make A Man Pine, Which Other Affections Do Not, Because They Are Not So Continual.
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As Is The Garden Such Is The Gardener. A Man's Nature Runs Either To Herbs Or Weeds.
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Generally He Perceived In Men Of Devout Simplicity This Opinion: That The Secrets Of Nature Were The Secrets Of God, Part Of That Glory Into Which Man Is Not To Press Too Boldly.
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Learning Hath His Infancy, When It Is But Beginning And Almost Childish; Then His Youth, When It Is Luxuriant And Juvenile; Then His Strength Of Years, When It Is Solid And Reduced; And Lastly His Old Age, When It Waxeth Dry And Exhaust.
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But Men Must Know, That In This Theatre Of Man's Life It Is Reserved Only For God And Angels To Be Lookers On.
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Riches Are For Spending, And Spending For Honor And Good Actions; Therefore Extraordinary Expense Must Be Limited By The Worth Of The Occasion.
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In Every Great Time There Is Some One Idea At Work Which Is More Powerful Than Any Other, And Which Shapes The Events Of The Time And Determines Their Ultimate Issues.
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No One Has Yet Been Found So Firm Of Mind And Purpose As Resolutely To Compel Himself To Sweep Away All Theories And Common Notions, And To Apply The Understanding, Thus Made Fair And Even, To A Fresh Examination Of Particulars. Thus It Happens That Human Knowledge, As We Have It, Is A Mere Medley And Ill-digested Mass, Made Up Of Much Credulity And Much Accident, And Also Of The Childish Notions Which We At First Imbibed.
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We Think According To Nature. We Speak According To Rules. We Act According To Custom.
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Much Bending Breaks The Bow; Much Unbending The Mind.
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Out Of Monuments, Names, Words Proverbs ...and The Like, We Do Save And Recover Somewhat From The Deluge Of Time.
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Then Bless Thy Secret Growth, Nor Catch At Noise, But Thrive Unseen And Dumb; Keep Clean, Be As Fruit, Earn Life, And Watch, Till The White-wing'd Reapers Come.
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For Whatever Deserves To Exist Deserves Also To Be Known, For Knowledge Is The Image Of Existence, And Things Mean And Splendid Exist Alike.
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He That Will Not Apply New Remedies Must Expect New Evils; For Time Is The Greatest Innovator.
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All Authority Must Be Out Of A Man's Self, Turned . . . Either Upon An Art, Or Upon A Man.
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...to Invent Is To Discover That We Know Not, And Not To Recover Or Resummon That Which We Already Know
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I Knew A Wise Man That Had It For A By-word, When He Saw Men Hasten To A Conclusion, "stay A Little, That We May Make An End The Sooner."
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Reading Maketh A Full Man; Conference A Ready Man; And Writing An Exact Man.
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Nor Do Apophthegms Only Serve For Ornament And Delight, But Also For Action And Civil Use, As Being The Edge-tools Of Speech Which Cut And Penetrate The Knots Of Business And Affairs: For Occasions Have Their Revolutions, And What Has Once Been Advantageously Used May Be So Again, Either As An Old Thing Or A New One.
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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.
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A Just Fear Of An Imminent Danger, Though Be No Blow Given, Is A Lawful Cause Of War.
War
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The Human Understanding Of Its Own Nature Is Prone To Suppose The Existence Of More Order And Regularity In The World Than It Finds.
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Painting Is The Pattern Of One's Own Nervous System Being Projected On Canvas.
Patterns
Painting
Canvas
Next To Religion, Let Your Care Be To Promote Justice.
Justice
Care
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The Worst Solitute Is To Be Destitute Of True Friendship.
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I Want To Make Portraits And Images. I Don't Know How. Out Of Despair, I Just Use Paint Anyway. Suddenly The Things You Make Coagulate And Take On Just The Shape You Intend. Totally Accurate Marks, Which Are Outside Representational Marks.
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The Images Of Mens Wits And Knowledge Remain In Books. They Generate Still, And Cast Their Seeds In The Minds Of Others, Provoking And Causing Infinite Actions And Opinions In Succeeding Ages
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He That Cometh To Seek After Knowledge, With A Mind To Scorn, Shall Be Sure To Find Matter For His Humour, But No Matter For His Instruction.
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It Is A Secret Both In Nature And State, That It Is Safer To Change Many Things Than One.
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God Hangs The Greatest Weights Upon The Smallest Wires.
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Wire
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The Great Advantages Of Simulation And Dissimulation Are Three. First To Lay Asleep Opposition And To Surprise. For Where A Man's Intentions Are Published, It Is An Alarum To Call Up All That Are Against Them. The Second Is To Reserve A Man's Self A Fair Retreat: For If A Man Engage Himself, By A Manifest Declaration, He Must Go Through, Or Take A Fall. The Third Is, The Better To Discover The Mind Of Another. For To Him That Opens Himself, Men Will Hardly Show Themselves Adverse; But Will Fair Let Him Go On, And Turn Their Freedom Of Speech To Freedom Of Thought.
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The Genius Of Any Single Man Can No More Equal Learning, Than A Private Purse Hold Way With The Exchequer.
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Art Is Man Added To Nature.
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A Principal Fruit Of Friendship, Is The Ease And Discharge Of The Fullness And Swellings Of The Heart, Which Passions Of All Kinds Do Cause And Induce.
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Knowledge Is Power.
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Graduation
He Was Reputed One Of The Wise Men That Made Answer To The Question When A Man Should Marry? 'a Young Man Not Yet, An Elder Man Not At All.'
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Answers
Great Riches Have Sold More Men Than They Have Bought.
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The Only Really Interesting Thing Is What Happens Between Two People In A Room.
Two
People
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All Will Come Out In The Washing.
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Washing
But We May Go Further, And Affirm Most Truly, That It Is A Mere And Miserable Solitude To Want True Friends; Without Which The World Is But A Wilderness.
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Real
Solitude
If You Want To Convey Fact, This Can Only Ever Be Done Through A Form Of Distortion. You Must Distort To Transform What Is Called Appearance Into Image.
Deception
Done
Want
The Dignity Of This End Of Endowment Of Man's Life With New Commodity Appeareth By The Estimation That Antiquity Made Of Such As Guided Thereunto ; For Whereas Founders Of States, Lawgivers, Extirpators Of Tyrants, Fathers Of The People, Were Honoured But With The Titles Of Demigods, Inventors Ere Ever Consecrated Among The Gods Themselves.
Father
Men
Tyrants
The Idols Of Tribe Have Their Foundation In Human Nature Itself, And In The Tribe Or Race Of Men. For It Is A False Assertion That The Sense Of Man Is The Measure Of Things. On The Contrary, All Perceptions As Well Of The Sense As Of The Mind Are According To The Measure Of The Individual And Not According To The Measure Of The Universe. And The Human Understanding Is Like A False Mirror, Which, Receiving Rays Irregularly, Distorts And Discolors The Nature Of Things By Mingling Its Own Nature With It.
Men
Mirrors
Race
Velazquez Found The Perfect Balance Between The Ideal Illustration Which He Was Required To Produce, And The Overwhelming Emotion He Aroused In The Spectator.
Illustration
Perfect
Balance
All Of Our Actions Take Their Hue From The Complexion Of The Heart, As Landscapes Their Variety From Light.
Heart
Light
Hue
To Suffering There Is A Limit; To Fearing, None.
Halloween
Entrepreneur
Political
The Greatest Vicissitude Of Things Amongst Men, Is The Vicissitude Of Sects And Religions.
Men
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Vicissitudes
The Correlative To Loving Our Neighbors As Ourselves Is Hating Ourselves As We Hate Our Neighbors.
Hate
Neighbor
Money Is A Great Servant But A Bad Master.
Money
Masters
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Human Knowledge And Human Power Meet In One; For Where The Cause Is Not Known The Effect Cannot Be Produced. Nature To Be Commanded Must Be Obeyed; And That Which In Contemplation Is As The Cause Is In Operation As The Rule.
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Nothing Is Pleasant That Is Not Spiced With Variety.
Variety Is The Spice Of Life
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Variety
Some Men Covet Knowledge Out Of A Natural Curiosity And Inquisitive Temper; Some To Entertain The Mind With Variety And Delight; Some For Ornament And Reputation; Some For Victory And Contention; Many For Lucre And A Livelihood; And But Few For Employing The Divine Gift Of Reason To The Use And Benefit Of Mankind.
Knowledge
Men
Curiosity
A Man Cannot Speak To His Son, But As A Father; To His Wife, But As A Husband; To His Enemy, But Upon Terms: Whereas A Friend May Speak, As The Case Requires, And Not As It Sorteth With The Person.
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Husband
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Look To Make Your Course Regular, That Men May Know Beforehand What They May Expect.
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Looks
Men Suppose Their Reason Has Command Over Their Words; Still It Happens That Words In Return Exercise Authority On Reason
Exercise
Men
Return
In Things That Are Tender And Unpleasing, It Is Good To Break The Ice By Some One Whose Words Are Of Less Weight, And To Reserve The More Weighty Voice To Come In As By Chance.
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Weight
Chance
...those Experiments Be Not Only Esteemed Which Have An Immediate And Present Use, But Those Principally Which Are Of Most Universal Consequence For Invention Of Other Experiments, And Those Which Give More Light To The Invention Of Causes; For The Invention Of The Mariner's Needle, Which Giveth The Direction, Is Of No Less Benefit For Navigation Than The Invention Of The Sails, Which Give The Motion.
Science
Light
Giving
There Was A Young Man In Rome That Was Very Like Augustus Caesar; Augustus Took Knowledge Of It And Sent For The Man, And Asked Him "was Your Mother Never At Rome?" He Answered "no Sir; But My Father Was."
Mother
Father
Knowledge
A Young Man Not Yet, An Elder Man Not At All.
Men
Young
Elders
For Many Parts Of Nature Can Neither Be Invented With Sufficient Subtlety, Nor Demonstrated With Sufficient Perspicuity, Nor Accommodated Unto Use With Sufficient Dexterity, Without The Aid And Intervening Of The Mathematics, Of Which Sort Are Perspective, Music, Astronomy, Cosmography, Architecture, Engineery, And Divers Others.
Nature
Science
History
I Don't Believe Art Is Available; It's Rare And Curious And Should Be Completely Isolated; One Is More Aware Of Its Magic The More It Is Isolated.
Art
Believe
Magic
I Use All Sorts Of Things To Work With: Old Brooms, Old Sweaters, And All Kinds Of Peculiar Tools And Materials... I Paint To Excite Myself, And Make Something For Myself.
Sweaters
Peculiar
Tools
It Is Impossible To Love And To Be Wise.
Love
Wise
Wisdom
A Wise Man Will Make More Opportunities Than He Finds.
Inspirational
Success
Graduation
But I Account The Use That A Man Should Seek Of The Publishing Of His Own Writings Before His Death, To Be But An Untimely Anticipation Of That Which Is Proper To Follow A Man, And Not To Go Along With Him.
Writing
Men
Use
Brutes By Their Natural Instinct Have Produced Many Discoveries, Whereas Men By Discussion And The Conclusions Of Reason Have Given Birth To Few Or None.
Science
Men
Discovery
And As For Mixed Mathematics, I May Only Make This Prediction, That There Cannot Fail To Be More Kinds Of Them, As Nature Grows Further Disclosed.
Failure
Math
May
The Serpent If It Wants To Become The Dragon Must Eat Itself.
Dragons
Want
Serpent
Many A Man's Strength Is In Opposition, And When He Faileth, He Grows Out Of Use.
Men
Use
Grows
Crafty Men Condemn Studies; Simple Men Admire Them; And Wise Men Use Them: For They Teach Not Their Own Use: But That Is A Wisdom Without Them, And Above Them, Won By Observation.
Wise
Simple
Men
The Logic Now In Use Serves Rather To Fix And Give Stability To The Errors Which Have Their Foundation In Commonly Received Notions Than To Help The Search For Truth. So It Does More Harm Than Good.
Truth
Science
Errors
... Wife And Children Are A Kind Of Discipline Of Humanity.
Family
Children
Discipline
Habit, If Wisely And Skillfully Formed, Becomes Truly A Second Nature; But Unskillfully And Unmethodically Depicted, It Will Be As It Were An Ape Of Nature, Which Imitates Nothing To The Life, But Only Clumsily And Awkwardly
Apes
Habit
Ifs
I Had Rather Believe All The Fables In The Legend, And The Talmud, And The Alcoran, Than That This Universal Frame Is Without A Mind.
Believe
Mind
Atheism
I Would Live To Study, Not Study To Live.
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Nothing Is To Be Feared But Fear Itself. Nothing Grievous But To Yield To Grief.
Grief
Yield
There Arises From A Bad And Unapt Formation Of Words A Wonderful Obstruction To The Mind.
Mind
Wonderful
Arise
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
Children
The Human Understanding, From Its Peculiar Nature, Easily Supposes A Greater Degree Of Order And Equality In Things Than It Really Finds.
Order
Understanding
Degrees
Nakedness Is Uncomely, As Well In Mind As Body, And It Addeth No Small Reverence To Men's Manners And Actions If They Be Not Altogether Open. Therefore Set It Down: That A Habit Of Secrecy Is Both Politic And Moral.
Men
Mind
Body
The Desire Of Power In Excess Caused The Angels To Fall; The Desire Of Knowledge In Excess Caused Man To Fall: But In Charity There Is No Excess; Neither Can Angel Nor Man Come In Danger By It.
Life
Fall
Angel
He That Seeketh To Be Eminent Amongst Able Men Hath A Great Task; But That Is Ever Good For The Public. But He That Plots To Be The Only Figure Amongst Ciphers Is The Decay Of A Whole Age.
Men
Age
Tasks
The Human Understanding Is No Dry Light, But Receives An Infusion From The Will And Affections... What A Man Had Rather Were True He More Readily Believes.
Believe
Men
Light
A Man Who Contemplates Revenge Keeps His Wounds Green.
Revenge
Men
Green
Nothing Is More Pleasant To The Eye Than Green Grass Kept Finely Shorn.
Eye
Green
Grass
God's First Creature, Which Was Light.
Light
Firsts
Evolution
The Best Preservative To Keep The Mind In Health Is The Faithful Admonition Of A Friend.
Real
Faithful
Mind
Nothing Doth So Much Keep Men Out Of The Church, And Drive Men Out Of The Church, As Breach Of Unity.
Men
Unity
Church
For Knowledge, Too, Is Itself Power.
Knowledge
The Inquiry Of Truth, Which Is The Love-making, Or The Wooing Of It, The Knowledge Of Truth, Which Is The Presence Of It, And The Belief Of Truth, Which Is The Enjoying Of It, Is The Sovereign Good Of Human Nature.
Love
Inquiry
Sovereign
The Stage Is More Beholding To Love Than The Life Of Man. For As To The Stage, Love Is Ever Matter Of Comedies And Now And Then Of Tragedies; But In Life It Doth Much Mischief, Sometimes Like A Siren, Sometimes Like A Fury.
Love
Men
Tragedy
Man, Being The Servant And Interpreter Of Nature, Can Do And Understand So Much And So Much Only As He Has Observed In Fact Or Thought Of The Course Of Nature; Beyond This He Neither Knows Anything Nor Can Do Anything.
Nature
Knowledge
Science
Science Is But An Image Of The Truth.
Truth
Science
Scientist
For Fountains, They Are A Great Beauty And Refreshment, But Pools Mar All, And Make The Garden Unwholesome, And Full Of Flies And Frogs.
Rain
Garden
Rivers
Studies Perfect Nature And Are Perfected Still By Experience.
Nature
Perfect
Study
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.
Strong
Integrity
Character
The Creative Process Is A Cocktail Of Instinct, Skill, Culture And A Highly Creative Feverishness. It Is Not Like A Drug; It Is A Particular State When Everything Happens Very Quickly, A Mixture Of Consciousness And Unconsciousness , Of Fear And Pleasure; It's A Little Like Making Love, The Physical Act Of Love.
Skills
Creative
Making Love
Wise Sayings Are Not Only For Ornament, But For Action And Business, Having A Point Or Edge, Whereby Knots In Business Are Pierced And Discovered.
Inspirational
Wise
Ornaments
It Is The Peculiar And Perpetual Error Of The Human Understanding To Be More Moved And Excited By Affirmatives Than By Negatives
Thinking
Errors
Understanding
If Any Human Being Earnestly Desire To Push On To New Discoveries Instead Of Just Retaining And Using The Old; To Win Victories Over Nature As A Worker Rather Than Over Hostile Critics As A Disputant; To Attain, In Fact, Clear And Demonstrative Knowlegde Instead Of Attractive And Probable Theory; We Invite Him As A True Son Of Science To Join Our Ranks.
Science
Son
Winning
There Is No Such Flatterer As Is A Man's Self.
Men
Vanity
Self
There Is Little Friendship In The World, And Least Of All Between Equals.
Friendship
Littles
World
My Praise Shall Be Dedicated To The Mind Itself. The Mind Is The Man, And The Knowledge Is The Mind. A Man Is But What He Knoweth. The Mind Is But An Accident To Knowledge, For Knowledge Is The Double Of That Which Is.
Knowledge
Men
Mind
Men Are Rather Beholden ... Generally To Chance Or Anything Else, Than To Logic, For The Invention Of Arts And Sciences.
Art
Science
Men
States Are Great Engines Moving Slowly.
Moving
Government
States
Young Men, In The Conduct And Manage Of Actions, Embrace More Than They Can Hold; Stir More Than They Can Quiet; Fly To The End, Without Consideration Of The Means And Degrees; Pursue Some Few Principles, Which They Have Chanced Upon Absurdly; Care Not To Innovate, Which Draws Unknown Inconveniences; Use Extreme Remedies At First; And, That Which Doubleth All Errors, Will Not Acknowledge Or Retract Them; Like An Unready Horse, That Will Neither Stop Nor Turn.
Horse
Mean
Men
A Sudden Bold And Unexpected Question Doth Many Times Surprise A Man And Lay Him Open.
Men
Experience
Unexpected
Things Alter For The Worse Spontaneously, If They Be Not Altered For The Better Designedly.
Life
Change
Philosophical
All The Crimes On Earth Do Not Destroy So Many Of The Human Race Nor Alienate So Much Property As Drunkenness.
Race
Earth
Crime
Seek Not Proud Riches, But Such As Thou Mayest Get Justly, Use Soberly, Distribute Cheerfully, And Leave Contentedly.
Money
Advice
Proud
A Forbidden Writing Is Thought To Be A Certain Spark Of Truth, That Flies Up In The Face Of Them Who Seek To Tread It Out.
Writing
Sparks
Faces
The First Question Concerning The Celestial Bodies Is Whether There Be A System, That Is Whether The World Or Universe Compose Together One Globe, With A Center, Or Whether The Particular Globes Of Earth And Stars Be Scattered Dispersedly, Each On Its Own Roots, Without Any System Or Common Center.
Stars
Roots
Together
For Friends... Do But Look Upon Good Books: They Are True Friends, That Will Neither Flatter Nor Dissemble.
True Friend
Book
Looks
Man Was Formed For Society.
Men
Society
Truth Is The Daughter Of Time, Not Of Authority.
Daughter
Mother
Time
For The Chain Of Causes Cannot By Any Force Be Loosed Or Broken, Nor Can Nature Be Commanded Except By Being Obeyed.
It Is The Wisdom Of The Crocodiles, That Shed Tears When They Would Devour.
Tears
Atheism
Crocodiles
Come Home To Men's Business And Bosoms.
Business
Home
Men
A Much Talking Judge Is An Ill-tuned Cymbal.
Talking
Justice
Judging
Let Every Student Of Nature Take This As His Rule, That Whatever The Mind Seizes Upon With Particular Satisfaction Is To Be Held In Suspicion.
Nature
Science
Doubt
Discretion In Speech Is More Than Eloquence.
Inspiration
Speech
Tact
God Has, In Fact, Written Two Books, Not Just One. Of Course, We Are All Familiar With The First Book He Wrote, Namely Scripture. But He Has Written A Second Book Called Creation.
Book
Two
Environmental
The Syllogism Consists Of Propositions, Propositions Consist Of Words, Words Are Symbols Of Notions. Therefore If The Notions Themselves (which Is The Root Of The Matter) Are Confused And Over-hastily Abstracted From The Facts, There Can Be No Firmness In The Superstructure. Our Only Hope Therefore Lies In A True Induction.
Confused
Lying
Roots
It Is A Sad Fate For A Man To Die Too Well Known To Everybody Else, And Still Unknown To Himself.
Fate
Men
Well Known
First The Amendment Of Their Own Minds. For The Removal Of The Impediments Of The Mind Will Sooner Clear The Passages Of Fortune Than The Obtaining Fortune Will Remove The Impediments Of The Mind.
Mind
Firsts
Clarity
When I Paint I Am Ageless, I Just Have The Pleasure Or The Difficulty Of Painting.
Passion
Painting
Pleasure
Our Humanity Is A Poor Thing, Except For The Divinity That Stirs Within Us.
Humanity
Divinity
Poor
Rather To Excite Your Judgment Briefly Than To Inform It Tediously.
Discovery
Judgment
Painting Today Is Pure Intuition And Luck And Taking Advantage Of What Happens When You Splash The Stuff Down.
Luck
Intuition
Stuff
I Should Have Been, I Don't Know, A Con-man, A Robber Or A Prostitute. But It Was Vanity That Made Me Choose Painting, Vanity And Chance.
Men
Vanity
Should Have
For My Name And Memory I Leave To Men's Charitable Speeches, And To Foreign Nations And The Next Ages.
Memories
Men
Names
The Best Armor Is To Keep Out Of Gunshot.
War
Armor
Strategy
Great Boldness Is Seldom Without Some Absurdity.
Absurdity
Boldness
Antiquities, Or Remnants Of History, Are, As Was Said, Tanquam Tabula Naufragii: When Industrious Persons, By An Exact And Scrupulous Diligence And Observation, Out Of Monuments, Names, Words, Proverbs, Traditions, Private Records And Evidences, Fragments Of Stories, Passages Of Books That Concern Not Story, And The Like, Do Save And Recover Somewhat From The Deluge Of Time.
Book
Names
Stories
Croesus Said To Cambyses; That Peace Was Better Than War; Because In Peace The Sons Did Bury Their Fathers, But In Wars The Fathers Did Bury Their Sons.
Peace
Father
War
Neither The Naked Hand Nor The Understanding Left To Itself Can Effect Much. It Is By Instruments And Helps That The Work Is Done, Which Are As Much Wanted For The Understanding As For The Hand. And As The Instruments Of The Hand Either Give Motion Or Guide It, So The Instruments Of The Mind Supply Either Suggestions For The Understanding Or Cautions.
Science
Hands
Giving
Beauty Itself Is But The Sensible Image Of The Infinite.
Beauty
Infinite
Sensible
Great Changes Are Easier Than Small Ones.
Change
Easier
Great Change
Some Books Should Be Tasted, Some Devoured, But Only A Few Should Be Chewed And Digested Thoroughly.
Inspirational
Book
Reading
People Usually Think According To Their Inclinations, Speak According To Their Learning And Ingrained Opinions, But Generally Act According To Custom.
Inspirational
Learning
Thinking
When A Doubt Is Once Received, Men Labour Rather How To Keep It A Doubt Still, Than How To Solve It; And Accordingly Bend Their Wits.
Men
Doubt
Wit
Fame Is Like A River, That Beareth Up Things Light And Swollen, And Drowns Things Weighty And Solid.
Light
Rivers
Fame
There Is Nothing Makes A Man Suspect Much, More Than To Know Little, And Therefore Men Should Remedy Suspicion By Procuring To Know More, And Not Keep Their Suspicions In Smother.
Men
Doubt
Littles
In One And The Same Fire, Clay Grows Hard And Wax Melts.
Persistence
Fire
Clay
Doctor Johnson Said, That In Sickness There Were Three Things That Were Material; The Physician, The Disease, And The Patient: And If Any Two Of These Joined, Then They Get The Victory; For, Ne Hercules Quidem Contra Duos [not Even Hercules Himself Is A Match For Two]. If The Physician And The Patient Join, Then Down Goes The Disease; For Then The Patient Recovers: If The Physician And The Disease Join, That Is A Strong Disease; And The Physician Mistaking The Cure, Then Down Goes The Patient: If The Patient And The Disease Join, Then Down Goes The Physician; For He Is Discredited.
Strong
Science
Doctors
For No Man Can Forbid The Spark Nor Tell Whence It May Come.
Men
May
Sparks
Why Should I Be Angry With A Man For Loving Himself Better Than Me?
Men
Self Love
Should
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