Audio only
Length5h 38m
About this audiobook
Francis Bacon had many accomplishments. He was a scientist, a philosopher, and a politician, and he was adept, too, at taking bribes; for this he had been imprisoned. It is, however, as a literary man that he is perhaps best remembered, a writer so competent with the pen that for decades there have been some persons willing to argue that Bacon wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare.
The essay form is rare in the modern age, although there are some faint signs of its revival. As Bacon used it, the essay is a carefully fashioned statement, both informative and expressive, by which a person comments on life and manners, on nature and its puzzles.
"The Essays" first appeared, ten in number, in 1597 (by 1612, the number of essays had been increased to thirty-eight). They were immediately popular because they were brief, lively, humane, and well-written. Perhaps they were effective in contrast to the rambling, florid prose written by most writers of the time. A considerable part of their charm lay in their civilised tone. In these essays, Bacon reveals himself as an inquisitive but also an appreciative man with wit enough to interest others.
The essays concern themselves with such universal concepts as truth, death, love, goodness, friendship, fortune, and praise. They cover such controversial matters as religion, atheism, custom and education, and usury, and they consider such intriguing matters as envy, cunning, innovations, suspicion, ambition, praise, vainglory, and the vicissitudes of things.
Audiobook details
GenrePsychology, Biography and Memoir, Education and Learning
Length5 hrs 38 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJun 7, 2019
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Of Truth
26Of Seeming Wise
2Of Death
27Of Friendship
3Of Unity in Religion
28Of Expense
4Of Revenge
29Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates
5Of Adversity
30Of Regiment of Health
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6Of Simulation and Dissimulation
31Of Suspicion
7Of Parents and Children
32Of Discourse
8Of Marriage and Single Life
33Of Plantations
9Of Envy
34Of Riches
10Of Love
35Of Prophecies
11Of Great Place
36Of Ambition
12Of Boldness
37Of Masques and Triumphs
13Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature
38Of Nature in Men
14Of Nobility
39Of Custom and Education
15Of Seditions and Troubles
40Of Fortune
16Of Atheism
41Of Usury
17Of Superstition
42Of Youth and Age
18Of Travel
43Of Beauty
19Of Empire
44Of Deformity
20Of Counsel
45Of Building
21Of Delays
46Of Gardens
22Of Cunning
47Of Negotiating
23Of Wisdom for a Man’s Self
48Of Followers and Friends
24Of Innovations
49Of Suitors
25Of Dispatch
50Of Studies
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