Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best, from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar.
They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and con- sider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things.
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And there- fore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not.
Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Nay, there is no stand or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as dis- eases of the body, may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like.
If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores. So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt. Letters are good, when a man would draw an answer by letter back again; or when it may serve for a man's justifica- tion afterwards to produce his own letter; or where it may be danger to be interrupted, or heard by pieces. To deal in person is good, when a man's face breedeth regard, as commonly with inferiors; or in tender cases, where a man's eye, upon the countenance of him with whom he speaketh, may give him a direction how far to go; and generally, where a man will reserve to himself liberty, either to disavow or to expound.
Use also such as have been lucky, and prevailed before, in things wherein you have employed them; for that breeds confidence, and they will strive to maintain their prescription. It is better to sound a person, with whom one deals afar off than to fall upon the point at first; except you mean to surprise him by some short ques- tion.
It is better dealing with men in appetite, than with those that are where they would be. All practice is to discover, or to work. Men discover themselves in trust, in passion, at unawares, and of necessity, when they would have somewhat done, and cannot find an apt pretext. Amazon books: The Essays, Francis Bacon. This page has been created by Philipp Lenssen. Page last updated on November Complete book.
Authorama - Classic Literature, free of copyright. The former is the preoccupation of the editor, who uses the nebulous concept of negotiation as an all- encompassing theoretical frame for the collection. It is an abstruse choice that obscures both the subject and the value of this book, a sign that it could have benefited from a firmer and more balanced editorial hand. Amazon books: The Essays , Francis Bacon. This page has been created by Philipp Lenssen. Page last updated on November Complete book.
Authorama - Classic Literature, free of copyright. Verulam Viscount St.
0コメント