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
If any human being earnestly desire to push on to new discoveries instead of just retaining and using the old; to win victories over Nature as a worker rather than over hostile critics as a disputant; to attain, in fact, clear and demonstrative knowlegde instead of attractive and probable theory; we invite him as a true son of Science to join our ranks.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the pursuit of genuine knowledge and discoveries rather than mere theoretical discussions.
In this quote, Francis Bacon highlights the importance of actively seeking new discoveries and understanding through empirical evidence, rather than simply engaging in debates or holding onto established theories. He invites those who genuinely strive for clarity and demonstrative knowledge to join the ranks of scientific inquiry, advocating for a hands-on, innovative approach to learning about the natural world.
Themes
ScienceDiscoveryKnowledgeNatureInnovation
In practice
Example use cases
In a science conference, to inspire researchers to embrace new methodologies.
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
A wonderful area for speculative academic work is the unknowable. These days religious subjects are in disfavor, but there are still plenty of good topics. The nature of consciousness, the workings of the brain, the origin of aggression, the origin of language, the origin of life on earth, SETI and life on other worlds...this is all great stuff. Wonderful stuff. You can argue it interminably. But it can't be contradicted, because nobody knows the answer to any of these topics.
Michael CrichtonRead
You're never going to get the amount of CO2 emitted to go down unless you deal with the one magic metric, which is CO2 per kilowatt-hour.
Bill GatesRead
How long have we got? We have to stabilize emissions of carbon dioxide within a decade, or temperatures will warm by more than one degree... We don't have much time left.
James HansenRead
Human beings would split the atom and invent television, nylon, and instant coffee before they could figure out the age of their own planet.
Bill BrysonRead
I just felt that space was the next thing coming in aviation. It was higher, faster. It had the risk.
Gene KranzRead
It may be that our cosmic curiosity... is a genetically-encoded force that we illuminate when we look up and wonder.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead