Francis Bacon

I hold every man a debtor to his profession.

Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.

Speech of yourself ought to be seldom and well chosen.

Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.

The place of justice is a hallowed place.

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.

Time is but the stream I go fishing in. I drink at it, but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. It’s thin current slides away, but eternity remains.

Never marry but for love; but see that thou lovest what is lovely.

We know now that the soul is the body, and the body the soul. They tell us they are different because they want to persuade us that we can keep our souls if we let them make slaves of our bodies.

Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself.

In this world there is always danger for those who are afraid of it.

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men – that is genius.

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.

For character too is a process and an unfolding… among our valued friends is there not someone or other who is a little too self confident and disdainful; whose distinguished mind is a little spotted with commonness; who is a little pinched here and protuberant there with native prejudices; or whose better energies are liable to lapse down the wrong channel under the influence of transient solicitations?

I didn’t find my friends; the good Lord gave them to me.

God has placed no limits to the exercise of the intellect he has given us, on this side of the grave.

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.

In eternity there is indeed something true and sublime. But all these times and places and occasions are now and here. God himself culminates in the present moment and will never be more divine in the lapse of the ages. Time is but a stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it, but when I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away but eternity remains.

A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses.

Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.

It makes a great difference in the force of a sentence, whether a man be behind it or no.