Francis Bacon

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 mould of a man’s fortune is in his own hands.

We cannot command Nature except by obeying her.

Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible.

Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.

Never do wrong when people are looking.

We all have our challenges, issues, things that we’re working through and insecurity is there because nobody is perfect no matter who you are. It’s that imperfection that makes you so dope.

The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little.

Knowledge is the treasure, but judgment is the treasurer of the one who is wise.

We must train hard. It’s not about denying a weakness may exist but about denying its right to persist.

The earth is not a mere fragment of dead history, stratum upon stratum like the leaves of a book, to be studied by geologists and antiquaries chiefly, but living poetry like the leaves of a tree, which precede flowers and fruit – not a fossil earth, but a living earth; compared with whose great central life all animal and vegetable life is merely parasitic. Its throes will heave our exuviate from their graves.

The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men.

Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.

Life too near paralyses art.

Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.

Never be bored, and you will never be boring.

A perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.

The natural law of inertia: Matter will remain at rest or continue in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.

George Washington, as a boy, was ignorant of the commonest accomplishments of youth. He could not even lie.