Autres citations de Francis Bacon:
"Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom." / "Le silence est la vertu des sots." / "On tait tout à l'homme qui se tait; on lui rend son silence."
"Wonder is the seed of knowledge."
"Ipsa scientia potestas est." - "Knowledge itself is power." / "Knowledge and human power are synonymous." / "The desire of excessive power caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge caused men to fall."
"It is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everybody else, and still unknown to himself." [à comparer à Franz Kafka: "He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived."]
"In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon." / "A man that studieth revenge keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well." / "Celui qui s'applique à la vengeance garde fraîches ses blessures." / "La vengeance est une justice sauvage." / "Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more a man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out."
"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted but to weigh and consider."
"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
"The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses." / "It is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human understanding to be more moved and excited by affirmatives than by negatives."
"Calomnie hardiment, il en reste toujours quelque chose." / "Slander boldly, something always sticks." / "Calumniad con audacia: algo siempre quedará."
"A false friend is more dangerous than an open enemy."
"Porque las conductas, como las enfermedades, se contagian de unos a otros."
"The folly of one man is the fortune of another."
"Avoir pitié de son ennemi, c'est être sans pitié pour soi-même." (Francis Bacon) [à comparer à Attila (395-453): "Do not underestimate the power of an enemy, no matter how great or small, to rise against you another day."]
"A bachelor's life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner."
"The punishing of wits enhances their authority."
"Il est plus sage de changer beaucoup de choses qu'une seule."
"It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire and many things to fear. And yet that commonly is the case of kings."
"Los hombres situados en altos puestos son tres veces siervos. Representa un extraño deseo buscar el poder y perder la libertad."
"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."
"God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures."
"Judges must beware of hard constructions and strained inferences, for there is no worse torture than that of laws."
"There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding and that which is lost by not trying."
"Cuando el peligro parece ligero, deja de ser ligero."
"Wives are young men's mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men's nurses."
"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."
"Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing."
"Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper."
"Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God."
"The joys of parents are secret, and so are their grieves and fears."
"Good fame is like fire; when you have kindled you may easily preserve it; but if you extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again."
"Life, an age to the miserable, and a moment to the happy."
"I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death."
"Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes."
"The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding."
"The great end of life is not knowledge but action."
"Money is like manure, of very little use except it be spread."
"El dinero es un buen sirviente, pero un pésimo maestro."
"Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable."
"Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased by tales, so is the other."
"Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New."
"People usually think according to their inclinations, speak according to their learning and ingrained opinions, but generally act according to custom."
"Beauty is the sensible image of the Infinite." / "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." / "No hay belleza sin algo extraño en sus proporciones."
"We cannot command Nature, except by obeying her." / "Sólo podemos dominar a la naturaleza si la obedecemos."
"It is impossible to love and to be wise."
"Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly."
"Age appears best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and old authors to read."
...
Quelques comparaisons entre Francis Bacon et Blaise Pascal sont faites ici:
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/wawa/blog/040321/francis-bacon-et-blaise-pascal
...