Francis Bacon

Suspicions that the mind, of itself, gathers, are but buzzes; but suspicions that are artificially nourished and put into men’s heads by the tales and whisperings of others, have stings.

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

The desire of excessive power caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge caused men to fall.

God’s first creature, which was light.

It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire and many things to fear.

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

The fickleness of the women I love is only equaled by the infernal constancy of the women who love me.

Strange – is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us of the road Which to discover we must travel too.

Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.

Everything in Nature contains all the powers of Nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.

There are many scapegoats for our sins, but the most popular is providence.

The perception of the comic is a tie of sympathy with other men, a pledge of sanity, and a protection from those perverse tendencies and gloomy insanities in which fine intellects sometimes lose themselves. A rogue alive to the ludicrous is still convertible. If that sense is lost, his fellow-men can do little for him.

Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors.

Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple many things which are involved in haunting and harassing difficulties and obscurities now.

A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape.

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only.

Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable, and others extremely difficult.

You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude.

She was taken by surprise at quite how breathtaking the twinkle in her eyes was. She listened and watched attentively, magnetized. As butterflies danced on her lips, her own stomach felt butterflies.

Look to make your course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect.