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
Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Goodness is the highest virtue, and without it, humanity is lost.
In this quote, Francis Bacon emphasizes the paramount importance of goodness as a virtue of the mind. He suggests that goodness is not only a defining characteristic of the divine but also essential for human dignity and fulfillment; without it, individuals become restless and unhappy, indicating that moral virtue is fundamental to a meaningful life.
Themes
GoodnessVirtueMindHumanityCharacter
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about ethics, one might say, 'Remember, as Francis Bacon observed, goodness is the greatest virtue we can aspire to.'
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
The grateful person fears no court or judge, no sentence or executioner, but what he carries about him in his own breast: and being still the most severe exactor of himself, not only confesses but proclaims his debts.
Robert SouthRead
Some critics are stimulating in that they make you realise how you could do better, and those are valued.
Francis Ford CoppolaRead
Confidence contributes more to conversation than wit.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Stairway to Wisdom”) David Brooks detailed the needed ingredients to gaining a deep understanding of a social problem, beginning with the data and moving on to first-hand accounts. The highest rung on his stairway, though, went beyond those: “Empathy opens you up to absorb the good and the bad. Love impels you not just to observe but to seek union—to think as another thinks and feel as another feels.
David BrooksRead
Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
Of all the paths a man could strike into, there is, at any given moment, a best path .. A thing which, here and now, it were of all things wisest for him to do .. To find this path, and walk in it, is the one thing needful for him.
Thomas CarlyleRead