“The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.”
Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature
Essays (1625)
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Francis Bacon 295
English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and auth… 1561–1626Related quotes

Section 6
The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955)

1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), Compensation
Context: Every excess causes a defect; every defect an excess. Every sweet hath its sour; every evil its good. Every faculty which is a receiver of pleasure has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its moderation with its life. For every grain of wit there is a grain of folly. For every thing you have missed, you have gained something else; and for every thing you gain, you lose something. If riches increase, they are increased that use them. If the gatherer gathers too much, nature takes out of the man what she puts into his chest; swells the estate, but kills the owner. Nature hates monopolies and exceptions.

“Anger exceeding limits causes fear and excessive kindness eliminates respect.”

“Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.”
Irish Press (1940)
By Quill:, 1940s

Essay on the Principle of Population (1798; rev. through 1826)

“That which our greatness caused
May also cause our fall.”
Volume VI., 13. — "La Fusée".
Translation reported in Harbottle's Dictionary of quotations French and Italian (1904), p. 99.
Fables (1802)