"The greatest error of all the rest is the mistaking or misplacing of the last or farthest end of knowledge: for men have entered into a desire of learning and knowledge, sometimes upon a natural curiosity and inquisitive appetite; sometimes to entertain their minds with variety and delight; sometimes for ornament and reputation; and sometimes to enable them to victory of wit and contradiction; and most times for lucre and profession; and seldom sincerely to give a true account of their gift of reason, to the benefit and use of men: as if there were sought in knowledge a couch whereupon to rest a searching and restless spirit; or a tarrasse, for a wandering and variable mind to walk up and down with a fair prospect; or a tower of state, for a proud mind to raise itself upon; or a fort or commanding ground, for strife and contention; or a shop, for profit or sale; and not a rich storehouse, for the glory of the Creator and the relief of man's estate."
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Politicians from EnglandNovelists from EnglandEssayists from EnglandScientists from EnglandLord Chancellors (United Kingdom)
Original Language: English
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Book I, v, 11
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
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Francis Bacon
1561 – 1626
englischer Philosoph, Staatsmann und Naturwissenschaftler
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