Francis Bacon

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.

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.

God’s first creature, which was light.

Opportunity makes a thief.

Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.

The pencil of the Holy Ghost hath labored more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon.

The way in which men cling to old institutions after the life has departed out of them, and out of themselves, reminds me of those monkeys which cling by their tails – aye, whose tails contract about the limbs, even the dead limbs, of the forest, and they hang suspended beyond the hunter’s reach long after they are dead. It is of no use to argue with such men. They have not an apprehensive intellect, but merely, as it were a prehensile tail.

Harold, like the rest of us, had many impressions which saved him the trouble of distinct ideas.

We should come home from adventures and perils and discoveries with new experiences and character.

Not even the Devil can call a woman “Slut” if he is not able to make her fall in love.

Sympathy is a supporting atmosphere, and in it we unfold easily and well.

Youth is unduly busy with pampering the outer person.

We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.

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.

The greatest genius is the most indebted person.

Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.

It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

The religion that is afraid of science dishonors God and commits suicide.

Measure your health by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature – if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you – know that the morning and spring of your life are past. Thus may you feel your pulse.

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

Nature has always had more force than education.