We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write … - Francis Bacon

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We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do . For it is not possible to join serpentine wisdom with the columbine innocency, except men know exactly all the conditions of the serpent; his baseness and going upon his belly, his volubility and lubricity, his envy and sting, and the rest; that is, all forms and natures of evil. For without this, virtue lieth open and unfenced. Nay, an honest man can do no good upon those that are wicked, to reclaim them, without the help of the knowledge of evil.

Francis Bacon

wisdom evil

English

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About Francis Bacon

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

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

Originators like Francis Bacon:

Michel de Montaigne Samuel Johnson Ralph Waldo Emerson Samuel Butler Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Additional quotes by Francis Bacon

If you read a piece of text through twenty times, you will not learn it by heart so easily as if you read it ten times while attempting to recite from time to time and consulting the text when your memory fails.

For behavior, men learn it, as they take diseases, one of another.

My Lord St. Albans said that Nature did never put her precious jewels into a garret four stories high, and therefore that exceeding tall men had ever very empty heads.

We are much beholden to Machiavelli and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do . For it is not possible to join serpentine wis… - Francis Bacon

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