Francis Bacon

I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death.

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.

Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid.

Discretion of speech is more than eloquence, and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words, or in good order.

The fortune which nobody sees makes a person happy and unenvied.

Philosophers make imaginary laws for imaginary commonwealths, and their discourses are as the stars, which give little light because they are so high.

A man’s true delight is to do the things he was made for.

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

Skepticism is unbelief in cause and effect.

Have wholesome, but not costly Food, and be rather cleanly than dainty in ordering it.

Events tend to recur in cycles…

Which is worse? The wolf who cries before eating the lamb or the wolf who does not.

A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.

We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it.

Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands. By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.

There be three things which make a nation great and prosperous: a fertile soil, busy workshops, easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place.

If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.

The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings.

Man is the only animal of which I am thoroughly and cravenly afraid of.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

A broad margin of leisure is as beautiful in a man’s life as in a book. Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping. Keep the time, observe the hours of the universe, not of the cars.