Francis Bacon

God’s first creature, which was light.

Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men.

It is in life as it is in ways, the shortest way is commonly the foulest, and surely the fairer way is not much about.

Acorns were good until bread was found.

God almighty first planted a garden: and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasure.

Without friends the world is but a wilderness. There is no man that imparteth his joys to his friends, but he joyeth the more; and no man that imparteth his grieves to his friend, but he grieveth the less.

This is the ultimate end of man, to find the One which is in him; which is his truth, which is his soul; the key with which he opens the gate of the spiritual life, the heavenly kingdom.

You sold me a dream and it shattered. I didn’t know how to put it back together again. So instead, I’m lovingly gluing those fragments anew with seams of gold, creating a vibrant new dream, rendering the broken strong and more than ever, breathtakingly beautiful.

Try, try, try, and keep on trying is the rule that must be followed to become an expert in anything.

Oftentimes, it’s the way we react to change that is the thing that determines the overall experience.

A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks Greek.

It is the only sensual pleasure without vice.

The language of friendship is not words but meanings.

There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.

Nothing is worth doing unless the consequences may be serious.

Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it. Many will read the book before one thinks of quoting a passage. As soon as he has done this, that line will be quoted east and west.

The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it.

When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.

When I was praised I lost my time, for instantly I turned around to look at the work I had thought slightly of, and that day I made nothing new.

I hate mankind, for I think of myself as one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.

If God wants us to do a thing, he should make his wishes sufficiently clear. Sensible people will wait till he has done this before paying much attention to him.