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Of Wisdom for a Man's Self
by Francis Bacon |
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An ant is a wise creature for itself, but it is a shrewd thing, in
an orchard or garden. And certainly, men that are great lovers of
themselves, waste the public. Divide with reason; between selflove and
society; and be so true to thyself, as thou be not false to others;
specially to thy king and country. It is a poor centre of a man's
actions, himself. It is right earth. For that only stands fast upon
his own centre; whereas all things, that have affinity with the
heavens, move upon the centre of another, which they benefit. The
referring of all to a man's self, is more tolerable in a sovereign
prince; because themselves are not only themselves, but their good and
evil is at the peril of the public fortune. But it is a desperate
evil, in a servant to a prince, or a citizen in a republic. For
whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his
own ends; which must needs be often eccentric to the ends of his
master, or state. Therefore, let princes, or states, choose such
servants, as have not this mark; except they mean their service should
be made but the accessory. That which maketh the effect more
pernicious, is that all proportion is lost. It were disproportion
enough, for the servant's good to be preferred before the master's;
but yet it is a greater extreme, when a little good of the servant,
shall carry things against a great good of the master's. And yet
that is the case of bad officers, treasurers, ambassadors, generals,
and other false and corrupt servants; which set a bias upon their
bowl, of their own petty ends and envies, to the overthrow of their
master's great and important affairs. And for the most part, the
good such servants receive, is after the model of their own fortune;
but the hurt they sell for that good, is after the model of their
master's fortune. And certainly it is the nature of extreme
self-lovers, as they will set an house on fire, and it were but to
roast their eggs; and yet these men many times hold credit with
their masters, because their study is but to please them, and profit
themselves; and for either respect, they will abandon the good of
their affairs.
Wisdom for a man's self is, in many branches thereof, a depraved
thing. It is the wisdom of rats, that will be sure to leave a house,
somewhat before it fall. It is the wisdom of the fox, that thrusts out
the badger, who digged and made room for him. It is the wisdom of
crocodiles, that shed tears when they would devour. But that which
is specially to be noted is, that those which (as Cicero says of
Pompey) are sui amantes, sine rivali, are many times unfortunate.
And whereas they have, all their times, sacrificed to themselves, they
become in the end, themselves sacrifices to the inconstancy of
fortune, whose wings they thought, by their self-wisdom, to have
pinioned.
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contact: morgan at morgan@westegg.com page last modified: thu jan 12 01:37:48 2006 |
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