Quotation added by staff

Why not add this quote to your bookmarks?

  ...scientiam ipsa se abscondit; sed studioso fit obviam. But the managing of this argument with integrity and truth, which I note as deficient, seemeth to me to be one of the best fortifications for honesty and virtue that can be planted. For, as the fable goeth of the basilisk--that if he see you first, you die for it; but if you see him first, he dieth--so is it with deceits and evil arts, which, if they be first espied they leese their life; but if they prevent, they endanger. So that We are much beholden to Machiavel and others, that write what men do, and not what they ought to do.   For it is not possible to join serpentine wisdom with the columbine innocency, except men know exactly all the conditions of the serpent; his baseness and going upon his belly, his volubility and lubricity, his envy and sting, and the rest--that is, all forms and natures of evil. For without this, virtue lieth open and unfenced. Nay, an honest man can do no good upon those that are wicked, to reclaim them, without the help of the knowledge of evil. For men of corrupted minds...   Bacon, Francis

Excerpt from The Advancement of Learning · This quote is about philosophers and philosophy · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

• Biography
• 1 Fan
• This quote in blogs