“We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.”

— Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning (1605), Book II

About Francis Bacon

1561 – 1626

English philosopher and statesman, author of the "Essays" and "Novum Organum".

“Nothing is terrible except fear itself.”

“Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.”

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

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”