Crafty men condemn studies; Simple men admire them; And wise men use them: For they teach not their own use: but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.

The mould of a man’s fortune is in his own hands.

That things are changed, and that nothing really perishes, and that the sum of matter remains exactly the same, is sufficiently certain.

It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures...

Truth is a good dog; but always beware of barking too close to the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out.

If a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see Fortune; for though she is blind, she is not invisible.

Like strawberry wives, that laid two or three great strawberries at the mouth of their pot, and all the rest were little ones.

Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.

Studies perfect nature and are perfected still by experience.

The light that a man receiveth by counsel from another is drier and purer than that which cometh from his own understanding and judgment, which is ever infused and drenched in his affections and customs.

What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer.

It is in life as it is in ways, the shortest way is commonly the foulest, and surely the fairer way is not much about.

Friends are thieves of time.

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

There is superstition in avoiding superstitions

The poets did well to conjoin Music And Medicine in Apollo: because the office of medicine is but to tune this curious harp of man’s body and to reduce it to harmony.

The fortune which nobody sees makes a person happy and unenvied.

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.

Such is the way of all superstition, whether in astrology, dreams, omens, divine judgments, or the like; wherein men, having a delight in such vanities, mark the events where they are fulfilled, but where they...

It was prettily devised of Aesop, “”The fly sat on the axle tree of the chariot wheel and said, what dust do I raise! “”

Wise men make more opportunities than they find.

Who ever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul.

It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire, and many things to fear

Princes are like to heavenly bodies, which cause good or evil times, and which have much veneration but no rest.

Children sweeten labours, but they make misfortunes more bitter.

Atheism is rather in the lip than in the heart of man.

The only really interesting thing iswhat happens between two people in a room.

Philosophy, when superficially studied, excites doubt; when thoroughly explored, it dispels it

Riches are a good handmaid, but the worst mistress

A bachelor’s life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner.

States as great engines move slowly.

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.

Boldness is a child of ignorance

Knowledge and human power are synonymous

There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and a flatterer.

Decided cases are the anchors of the law, as laws are of the state

People usually think according to their inclinations, speak according to their learning and ingrained opinions, but generally act according to custom.

As the births of living creatures are at first ill-shapen, so are all innovations, which are the births of time.

Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.

But it is not only the difficulty and labor which men take in finding out of truth, nor again that when it is found it imposeth upon men’s thoughts, that doth bring lies in favor;...

Despise no new accident in your body, but ask opinion of it… There is a wisdom in this beyond the rules of physic. A man’s observation, what he finds good and of what he finds...

They that deny a God destroy man’s nobility, for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and if he is not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a...

There is little friendship in the world, and least of all between equals.

Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men’s nurses.

Boldness is ever blind, for it sees not dangers and inconveniences whence it is bad in council though good in execution.

God Almighty first planted a garden.

My essays . . . come home, to men’s business, and bosoms.

Great hypocrite are the real atheists

Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God.

Life, an age to the miserable, and a moment to the happy.