Top 15 Francis Bacon Quotes

English philosopher and statesman (1561–1626)

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Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist. His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Most importantly, he argued this could be achieved by use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. His general idea of the importance and possibility of a skeptical methodology makes Bacon the father of the scientific method. This marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, the practical details of which are still central in debates about science and methodology today.

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Alternative Names: Franciscus Bacon • Francis Bacon of Verulamius • Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam • Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626 • Francis Bacon, Viscount Saint Alban

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Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.

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

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand — and melting like a snowflake...

Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.

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

Money is a great servant but a bad master.

Wonder is the seed of knowledge

It is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everybody else, and still unknown to himself.

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

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.