Francis Bacon

"Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly."

"What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer."

"Fashion is only the attempt to realize art in living forms and social intercourse."

"Wise men make more opportunities than they find."

"Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read."

"Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion."

"A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."

"A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green."

"A prudent question is one-half of wisdom."

"Anger is certainly a kind of baseness, as it appears well in the weakness of those subjects in whom it reigns: children, women, old folks, sick folks."

"Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor."

"But men must know, that in this theatre of man's life it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers on."

"By indignities men come to dignities."

"Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men."

"Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason."

"If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics."

"It is a strange desire, to seek power, and to lose liberty; or to seek power over others, and to lose power over a man's self."

"It is impossible to love and to be wise."

"Many a man's strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use."

"Money is like manure, of very little use except it be spread."

"Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience."

"Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished."

"Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed."

"People usually think according to their inclinations, speak according to their learning and ingrained opinions, but generally act according to custom."

"Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more a man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out."

"Science is but an image of the truth."

"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."

"The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses."

"The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding."

"The worst men often give the best advice."

"Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience."

"Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority."

"We cannot command Nature except by obeying her."

"Who ever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul."

"Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business."