Francis Bacon

Judges must beware of hard constructions and strained inferences, for there is no worse torture than that of laws.

Life, an age to the miserable, and a moment to the happy.

Anger makes dull men witty – but it keeps them poor.

Acorns were good until bread was found.

For my name and memory I leave to men’s charitable speeches, and to foreign nations and the next ages.

In charity there is no excess.

For knowledge itself is power.

Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same.

Worth seeing? Yes; but not worth going to see.

Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.

I often think that men don’t understand what is noble and what is ignorant, though they always talk about it.

It is the false shame of fools to try to conceal wounds that have not healed.

You are braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. And smarter than you think.

Remember who you are.

What is a country without rabbits and partridges? They are among the most simple and indigenous animal products; ancient and venerable families known to antiquity as to modern times; of the very hue and substance of Nature, nearest allied to leaves and to the ground.

Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.

A good scare is worth more than good advice.

Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.

There is no wisdom in useless and hopeless sorrow, but there is something in it so like virtue, that he who is wholly without it cannot be loved.

The painters could be identified by dirty fingernails; the writers by conversation in labored monosyllables and aggressive vulgarities which disguised their minds.

We must hold a man amenable to reason for the choice of his daily craft or profession. It is not an excuse any longer for his deeds that they are the custom of his trade. What business has he with an evil trade?