Mistakes are the portals of discovery. James Joyce
Heaven's Latest Neophyte Signalled left Then turned right Burma Shave
1952
He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong.
Benjamin Disraeli
Sir Francis Bacon 1561 - 1626 English Philosopher
Francis Bacon is the Chief figure of the English Renaissance. His advocacy of "action science" influenced the culture of the entire English speaking world.
Francis Bacon studied law at Cambridge and became Lord Chancellor in 1618. In the fullness of his power and reputation as Lord Chancellor of England, Bacon was impeached by Parliament for taking bribes in office, convicted, and banished from London and the law courts.
Up to Bacon's time there existed philosophies rooted not so much in reason but in pure faith. Bacon was violently opposed to speculative philosophies and argued that the only knowledge of importance to man was empirically rooted in the natural world. He insisted on collecting facts first, and then drawing theories from them - a method which is today called 'inductive', and which constituted a breakthrough in the approach to science.
His 'Essays' have remained the most popular writing, his two greatest scientific works being 'Novum Organum' and 'The Advancement of Learning' in which he pleaded for the recognition of science.
"...so often people you admire at a distance do not mean so much to you after you meet them."
Eleanore Roosevelt
PRESIDENTIAL TRIVIA
In 1806 Jackson had a duel with Charles Dickinson over some things that he said about Jackson's wife. Dickinson got the first shot, and hit Jackson directly in the chest, about two inches from his heart. Jackson didn't even fall down! Instead, he raised his gun and killed Dickinson! He then walked away. The bullet had lodged to close to his heart to be removed, so he carried it there for the rest of his life.
I'm named after nothing, though I'm awfully clamorous. And when I'm not working, your house is less glamorous. What am I?
Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went all the way out to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much. The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils.
But Satan now is wiser than of yore, and tempts by making rich, not making poor.
