Kalamdan

Francis Bacon

Essays

Philosophy and Wisdom

Cover of Essays

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Language
English
First published
1625
Reading time
228 minutes
Chapters
60 chapters

About this book

Fifty-eight short essays, plus an unfinished one on fame, in which Francis Bacon gives his advice on truth, death, love, friendship, ambition, money, gardens, travel, study and the business of getting on in the world.

They are packed with sentences that sound like proverbs, such as his remark that some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few chewed and digested. This is the final edition of 1625, the fullest that Bacon published, in modernised spelling. Each essay takes only a few minutes to read, which makes the book ideal for dipping into.

SALOMON saies; A good Name is as a precious oyntment; And I assure my selfe, such wil your Graces Name bee, with Posteritie. For your Fortune, and Merit both, have been Eminent. And you have planted Things, that are like to last. I doe now publish my Essayes;…

Dedication

About this edition

  • Source

    Project Gutenberg (eBook #575)

    Text version

    Project Gutenberg eBook #575 (updated 14 October 2013), downloaded 7 November 2026: the 1625 edition of The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, with the essays in modernised spelling (the dedication keeps its old spelling). The title page, the contents list, an editor's note and the editor's glossary of archaic words were not imported. Bacon's dedication, the 58 essays and the unfinished essay "Of Fame" (first printed after his death) are unchanged.

  • License

    Public domain

    Copyright status last verified: 9 November 2026

  • Category

    Philosophy and Wisdom

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Chapters

60 chapters
  1. Dedication2 min
  2. Of Truth4 min
  3. Of Death3 min
  4. Of Unity in Religion7 min
  5. Of Revenge2 min
  6. Of Adversity2 min
  7. Of Simulation and Dissimulation5 min
  8. Of Parents and Children3 min
  9. Of Marriage and Single Life3 min
  10. Of Envy8 min
  11. Of Love3 min
  12. Of Great Place5 min
  13. Of Boldness3 min
  14. Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature4 min
  15. Of Nobility3 min
  16. Of Seditions and Troubles10 min
  17. Of Atheism5 min
  18. Of Superstition3 min
  19. Of Travel4 min
  20. Of Empire7 min
  21. Of Counsel7 min
  22. Of Delays2 min
  23. Of Cunning6 min
  24. Of Wisdom for a Man's Self3 min
  25. Of Innovations2 min
  26. Of Dispatch3 min
  27. Of Seeming Wise2 min
  28. Of Friendship12 min
  29. Of Expense2 min
  30. Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates14 min
  31. Of Regiment of Health3 min
  32. Of Suspicion2 min
  33. Of Discourse3 min
  34. Of Plantations5 min
  35. Of Riches5 min
  36. Of Prophecies4 min
  37. Of Ambition4 min
  38. Of Masques and Triumphs3 min
  39. Of Nature in Men3 min
  40. Of Custom and Education3 min
  41. Of Fortune3 min
  42. Of Usury6 min
  43. Of Youth and Age3 min
  44. Of Beauty2 min
  45. Of Deformity2 min
  46. Of Building7 min
  47. Of Gardens10 min
  48. Of Negotiating3 min
  49. Of Followers and Friends3 min
  50. Of Suitors3 min
  51. Of Studies3 min
  52. Of Faction3 min
  53. Of Ceremonies, and Respects3 min
  54. Of Praise3 min
  55. Of Vain-glory3 min
  56. Of Honor and Reputation3 min
  57. Of Judicature7 min
  58. Of Anger3 min
  59. Of Vicissitude of Things9 min
  60. Of Fame3 min

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