Francis Bacon

It was prettily devised of Aesop, The fly sat on the axle tree of the chariot wheel and said, what dust do I raise!

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

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.

The general root of superstition is that men observe when things hit, and not when they miss; and commit to memory the one, and forget and pass over the other.

Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted… but to weigh and consider.

Riches are for spending.

I want someone with the proven strength to persevere, someone who knows this job and takes it seriously, someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.

A man of genius is privileged only as far as he is genius. His dullness is as insupportable as any other dullness.

I am not much an advocate for traveling, and I observe that men run away to other countries because they are not good in their own, and run back to their own because they pass for nothing in the new places. For the most part, only the light characters travel. Who are you that have no task to keep you at home?

Every stroke our fury strikes is sure to hit ourselves at last.

A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face; it gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures; it is the finest of the fine arts.

Today is Trinity Sunday. Centuries ago words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of Truth and Justice: Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valor, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be.

Sculpture and painting have the effect of teaching us manners and abolishing hurry.

I finished my first book seventy-six years ago. I offered it to every publisher on the English-speaking earth I had ever heard of. Their refusals were unanimous: and it did not get into print until, fifty years later; publishers would publish anything that had my name on it.

If the Almighty were to rebuild the world and asked me for advice, I would have English Channels round every country. And the atmosphere would be such that anything which attempted to fly would be set on fire.

No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.

My books are water; those of the great geniuses is wine. Everybody drinks water.

I didn’t find my friends; the good Lord gave them to me.

The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked what I thought, and attended to my answer.

The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterested virtue to sustain it.

You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.