Studies serve for delight， for ornamentornament n.装饰物， 教堂用品 vt.装饰， 修饰， and for ability. Their chief use for delight， is in privateness and retiring； for ornament， is in discourse； and for ability， is in the judgment， and disposition of business. For expert men can execute， and perhaps judge of particulars， one by one； but the general counselscounsel n.讨论， 商议， 辩护律师 vt.劝告， 忠告， and the plots and marshalling of affairs， come best， from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth； to use them too much for ornament， is affectation； to make judgment whollywholly adv.整个， 统统， 全部， 专门地 by their rules， is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature， and are perfected by experience： for natural abilities are like natural plants， that need proyning， by study； and studies themselves， do give forth directions too much at large， except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies， simple men admire them， and wise men use them； for they teach not their own use； but that is a wisdom without them， and above them， won by observation. Read not to contradictcontradict vt.同……矛盾， 同……抵触 and confute； nor to believe and take for granted； nor to find talk and discourse； but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted， others to be swallowed， and some few to be chewed and digested； that is， some books are to be read only in parts； others to be read， but not curiously； and some few to be read wholly， and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputydeputy n.代理人， 代表， and extracts made of them bothers； but that would be only in the less important arguments， and the meaner sort of books， else distilled books are like common distilled waters， flashy things.
Reading make a full man； conference a ready man； and writing an exact man. And therefore， if a man write little， he had need have a great memory； if he confer little， he had need have a present wit； and if he read little， he had need have much cunning， to seem to know， that he doth not. Histories make men wise； poets witty； the mathematics subtitle； natural philosophy deep； moral grave； logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay， there is no stand or impediment in the wit， but may be wrought out by fit studies； like as diseases of the body， may have appropriateappropriate adj.适当的 exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins； shooting for the lungs and breast； gentle walking for the stomach； riding for the head； and the like. So if a man，s wit be wandering， let him study the mathematics； for in demonstrationsdemonstration n.示范， 实证， if his wit be called away never so little， he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences， let him study the Schoolmen； for they are cymini sectors. If he be not apt to beat over matters， and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another， let him study the lawyers， cases. So every defect of the mind， may have a special receipt.
论读书
弗兰西斯·培根
读书足以怡情，足以博彩，足以长才。其怡情也，最见于独处幽居之时；其博彩也，最见于高谈阔论之中；其长才也，最见于处世判事之际。练达之士虽能分别处理细事或一一判别枝节，然纵观统筹、全局策划，则非好学深思者莫属。读书费时过多易惰，文采藻饰太盛则矫，全凭条文断事乃学究故态。读书补天然之不足，经验又补读书之不足，盖天生才干犹如自然花草，读书然后知如何修剪移接；而书中所示，如不以经验范之，则又大而无当。有一技之长者鄙读书，无知者羡读书，唯明智之士用读书，然书并不以用处告人，用书之智不在书中，而在书外，全凭观察得之。读书时不可存心诘难作者，不可尽信书上所言，亦不可只为寻章摘句，而应推敲细思。书有可浅尝者，有可吞食者，少数则须咀嚼消化。换言之，有只须读其部分者，有只须大体涉猎者，少数则须全读，读时须全神贯注，孜孜不倦。书亦可请人代读，取其所作摘要，但只限题材较次或价值不高者，否则书经提炼犹如水经蒸馏、淡而无味矣。
读书使人充实，讨论使人机智，笔记使人准确。因此不常做笔者须记忆特强，不常讨论者须天生聪颖，不常读书者须欺世有术，始能无知而显有知。读史使人明智，读诗使人灵秀，数学使人周密，科学使人深刻，伦理学使人庄重，逻辑修辞之学使人善辩：凡有所学，皆成性格。人之才智但有滞碍，无不可读适当之书使之顺畅，一如身体百病，皆可借相宜之运动除之。滚球利睾肾，射箭利胸肺，慢步利肠胃，骑术利头脑，诸如此类。如智力不集中，可令读数学，盖演题须全神贯注，稍有分散即须重演；如不能辨异，可令读经院哲学，盖是辈皆吹毛求疵之人；如不善求同，不善以一物阐证另一物，可令读律师之案卷。如此头脑中凡有缺陷，皆有特药可医。
Of Friendship
Francis Bacon
（1）
It had been hard for him that spake it to have put more truth and untruth together in few words， than in that speech， whatsoever is delighted in solitude， is either a wild beast or a god. For it is most true， that a natural and secret hatred， and aversation towards society， in any man， hath somewhat of the savage beast； but it is most untrue， that it should have any character at all， of the divine nature； except it proceed， not out of a pleasure in solitudesolitude n.孤独， but out of a love and desire to sequestersequester adv.幽静的， 隐蔽的vt.使隐退， 使隔绝， 扣押， 没收 a man，s self， for a higher conversation： such as is found to have been falsely and feignedly in some of the heathen； as Epimenides the Canadian， Numa the Roman， Empedocles the Sicilian， and Apollonius of Tyana； and truly and really， in divers of the ancient hermits and holy fathers of the church. But little do men perceive what solitude is， and how far it extendeth. For a crowd is not company； and faces are but a gallery of pictures； and talk but a tinkling cymbal， where there is no love. The Latin adage meeteth with it a little： magna civitas， magna solitudo； because in a great town friends are scattered； so that there is not that fellowship， for the most part， which is in less neighborhoods. But we may go further， and affirm most truly， that it is a mere and miserablesolitude to want true friends； without which theworld is but a wildernesswilderness n.荒野， 茫茫一片， 大量， 荒地； and even in this sense also of solitude， whosoever in the frame of his nature and affections， is unfit for friendship， he taketh it of the beast， and not from humanity.
A principal fruit of friendship， is the ease and discharge of the fulness and swellings of the heart， which passions of all kinds do cause and induce. We know diseases of stoppings， and suffocation， are the most dangerous in the body； and it is not much otherwise in the mind； you may take sarza to open the liver， steel to open the spleen， flowers of sulphursulphur n.硫磺 for the lungs， castoreum for the brain； but no receipt openeth the heart， but a true friend； to whom you may impart grief， joys， fears， hopes， suspicions， counsels， and whatsoever lieth upon the heart to oppress it， in a kind of civil shrift or confession.
（2）
