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Quote by Francis Bacon

“But the greatest error of all the rest is the mistaking or misplacing of the last or farthest end of knowledge: for men have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite; sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes for ornament and reputation; and sometimes to enable them to victory of wit and contradiction; and most times for lucre and profession; and seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason, to the benefit and use of men.”

Quote by Francis Bacon

Work

The works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, and Lord High Chancellor of England, in five volumes

This multi-volume set gathers the principal writings of Francis Bacon, including his philosophical treatises on natural philosophy and scientific method, his celebrated essays on conduct and wisdom, and his historical chronicles of the reigns of British monarchs. Bacon's works represent a significant contribution to early modern English literature and philosophy, reflecting his role as one of the intellectual architects of the Scientific Revolution. The collected edition makes accessible Bacon's prose writings across various genres, from speculative philosophy to political counsel, offering readers a comprehensive view of his literary legacy as a pioneer of empiricist thought and elegant English prose style. more

Author

Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, a renowned philosopher, politician, and writer, served as the Lord Chancellor of England. He is best known for his profound philosophical thoughts and extensive literary works, which have had a lasting impact on the world. more

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“By profession a biologist, [Thomas Henry Huxley] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences. Absolutely nothing was uninteresting to him. His curiosity ranged from music to theology and from philosophy to history. He didn't simply know something about everything; he knew a great deal about everything.”

“By this we may understand, there be two sorts of knowledge, whereof the one is nothing else but sense, or knowledge original (as I have said at the beginning of the second chapter), and remembrance of the same; the other is called science or knowledge of the truth of propositions, and how things are called, and is derived from understanding.”

“Even those to whom Providence has allotted greater strength of understanding, can expect only to improve a single science. In every other part of learning, they must be content to follow opinions, which they are not able to examine; and, even in that which they claim as peculiarly their own, can seldom add more than some small particle of knowledge, to the hereditary stock devolved to them from ancient times, the collective labour of a thousand intellects.”