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
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Hope is essential to start the day, but relying on it without action is insufficient later on.
This quote by Francis Bacon highlights the importance of hope as a motivating force to begin our endeavors each day. However, it warns that while hope can inspire us at breakfast—representing new beginnings—it must be complemented by action and pragmatism by the end of the day, suggesting that without effort, hope alone cannot sustain us through challenges.
Themes
HopeActionBeginningEffortPragmatism
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about pursuing dreams, you might say, 'As Francis Bacon once noted, hope is a good breakfast, but remember to take action by supper.'
More from Francis Bacon
All quotes →Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.
Francis BaconRead
Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion.
Francis BaconRead
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
Similar quotes
How do you listen? Do you listen with your projections, through your projection, through your ambitions, desire, fears, anxieties, through hearing only what you want to hear, only what will be satisfactory, what will gratify, what will give comfort, what will for the moment alleviate your suffering? If you listen through the screen of your desires, then you obviously listen to your own voice.
Jiddu KrishnamurtiRead
Beware! Don't allow yourself to do what you know is wrong, relying on the thought, Later I will repent and ask God's forgiveness.
RumiRead
Much did I rage when young, Being by the world oppressed, But now with flattering tongue It speeds the parting guest.
William Butler YeatsRead
Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.
Abraham Joshua HeschelRead
I have no talents. But I do have hope. And wonder. And love. Maybe those are talents?
Kate DicamilloRead
That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in another.
Adlai E. StevensonRead