Ornamenta Rationalia

thumb|The best part of beauty is that which a picture cannot express. The Ornamenta Rationalia is a collection of aphorisms published by Francis Bacon along with his Essays. Quotes Arcum intensio frangit; animum, remissio. Much bending breaks the bow. Much unbending, the mind. Cum vitia prosint, peccat qui recte facit. If vices were profitable, the virtuous man would be the sinner. The flood of grief decreaseth, when it can swell no higher. The fortune which nobody sees makes a man happy and unenvied. Malus ubi bonum se simulat, tunc est pessimus. A bad man is worst when he pretends to be a saint. They live ill, who think to live for ever. The coward calls himself a cautious man; and the miser says, he is frugal. It is a strange desire which men have, to seek power and lose liberty. A mixture of falsehood is like alloy in gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it debaseth it. Death ... extinguishes envy. He that studieth revenge, keepeth his own wounds green. If [things] be not tossed upon the arguments of counsel, they will be tossed upon- the waves of fortune. Extreme self-lovers will set a man's house on fire, though it were but to roast their eggs. Riches are the baggage of virtue; they cannot be spared nor left behind, but they hinder the march. Riches have sold more men than ever they have bought. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore let him seasonably water the one, and destroy the other. The beautiful prove accomplished, but not of great spirit; and study, for the most part, rather behaviour than virtue. The best part of beauty is that which a picture cannot express. While a man maketh his train longer, he maketh his wings shorter. Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, adversity the blessing of the New. Category:Philosophical works