“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.”

— Francis Bacon , book The Advancement of Learning

Book I, v, 8
The Advancement of Learning (1605)
Source: The Advancement Of Learning
Context: The two ways of contemplation are not unlike the two ways of action commonly spoken of by the ancients: the one plain and smooth in the beginning, and in the end impassable; the other rough and troublesome in the entrance, but after a while fair and even. So it is in contemplation: If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall e…" by Francis Bacon?

Francis Bacon 295

English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and auth… 1561–1626

Related quotes

“To believe with certainty we must begin with doubting.”

Stanisław Leszczyński (1677–1766) king of Poland

No. 61.
Maxims and Moral Sentences

“Love was without beginning, is, and shall be without ending.”

Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) English theologian and anchoress

The Ninth Revelation, Chapter 22
Context: Love was without beginning, is, and shall be without ending. For which love He said full sweetly these words: If I might suffer more, I would suffer more.