Salomon saith, There is no new thing upon the earth. So that as Plato had an imagination, that all knowledge was but remembrance; so Salomon giveth his sentence, that all novelty is but oblivion.
Francis BaconRead
There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True beauty often includes elements that are unconventional or surprising.
Francis Bacon's quote suggests that what we perceive as beautiful is often defined by an element of uniqueness or oddity. Excellent beauty, rather than being simply pleasing or conventional, carries with it a measure of strangeness that sets it apart and makes it memorable, indicating that diversity in proportion contributes significantly to aesthetic value.
Themes
BeautyStrangenessProportionUniquenessAesthetics
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about art, one could say, 'As Francis Bacon noted, there is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion, highlighting the significance of unusual techniques in modern art.'
More from Francis Bacon
All quotes →Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.
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Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion.
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Great art is always a way of concentrating, reinventing what is called fact, what we know of our existence- a reconcentration… tearing away the veils, the attitudes people acquire of their time and earlier time. Really good artists tear down those veils
Francis BaconRead
Wise men make more opportunities than they find.
Francis BaconRead
Knowledge and human power are synonymous.
Francis BaconRead
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