Study Edition · Essay 1
Of Truth
Source: The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral (3rd ed., 1625). Text from Project Gutenberg #575. Archaic verb forms modernized; vocabulary kept and glossed.
Bacon opens his final, enlarged collection of essays with this one. In under a thousand words he asks why people prefer comfortable lies to plain truth, praises the search for truth as the highest human good, and ends by calling lying in everyday dealings the most shameful of vices.
23 sentences: 4 simple, 10 moderate, 9 complex. Hover a number for its paraphrase; click it for the full note.
Key Vocabulary
- jestingjoking, mocking; not serious
- giddinessa light-headed fickleness; inability to settle on anything
- bondageslavery; being tied down
- discoursing witsclever people who love to argue and chatter
- mummeriesshowy costumed performances; empty ceremony
- triumphsgrand public pageants and processions
- carbunclea deep-red gemstone, such as a garnet
- melancholydeep, lasting sadness or gloom
- poesypoetry, or the art of writing it
- depravedmorally corrupted
- sovereignsupreme; highest of all
- providenceGod's care and guidance over the world
- vantage groundhigh ground giving a clear view or advantage
- prospecta wide view of a landscape
- alloya cheaper metal mixed into gold or silver
- embaseto make lower in value; debase
- perfidioustreacherous; breaking one's word
- odioushateful; deeply offensive
- peala loud ringing of bells
The Essay
“What is truth?” said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.1 Certainly there are some, that delight in giddiness, and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting.2 And though the sects of philosophers of that kind are gone, yet there remain certain discoursing wits, which are of the same veins, though there is not so much blood in them, as was in those of the ancients.3 But it is not only the difficulty and labor, which men take in finding out of truth, nor again, that when it is found, it imposes upon men's thoughts, that brings lies in favor; but a natural, though corrupt love, of the lie itself.4 One of the later school of the Grecians, examines the matter, and is at a stand, to think what should be in it, that men should love lies; where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets, nor for advantage, as with the merchant; but for the lie's sake.5 But I cannot tell; this same truth, is a naked, and open day-light, that does not show the masks, and mummeries, and triumphs, of the world, half so stately and daintily as candle-lights.6 Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that shows best by day; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond, or carbuncle, that shows best in varied lights.7 A mixture of a lie ever adds pleasure.8 Does any man doubt, that if there were taken out of men's minds, vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, and the like, but it would leave the minds, of a number of men, poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves?9
One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy vinum daemonum, because it fires the imagination; and yet, it is but with the shadow of a lie.10 But it is not the lie that passes through the mind, but the lie that sinks in, and settles in it, that does the hurt; such as we spoke of before.11 But howsoever these things are thus in men's depraved judgments, and affections, yet truth, which only judges itself, teaches that the inquiry of truth, which is the love-making, or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature.12 The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense; the last, was the light of reason; and his sabbath work ever since, is the illumination of his Spirit.13 First he breathed light, upon the face of the matter or chaos; then he breathed light, into the face of man; and still he breathes and inspires light, into the face of his chosen.14 The poet, that beautified the sect, that was otherwise inferior to the rest, says yet excellently well: It is a pleasure, to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea; a pleasure, to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below; so always that this prospect is with pity, and not with swelling, or pride.15 Certainly, it is heaven upon earth, to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.16
To pass from theological, and philosophical truth, to the truth of civil business; it will be acknowledged, even by those that do not practise it, that clear, and round dealing, is the honor of man's nature; and that mixture of falsehoods, is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it embases it.17 For these winding, and crooked courses, are the goings of the serpent; which goes basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet.18 There is no vice, that so covers a man with shame, as to be found false and perfidious.19 And therefore Montaigne says prettily, when he inquired the reason, why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace, and such an odious charge?20 He says, If it is well weighed, to say that a man lies, is as much to say, as that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men.21 For a lie faces God, and shrinks from man.22 Surely the wickedness of falsehood, and breach of faith, cannot possibly be so highly expressed, as in that it shall be the last peal, to call the judgments of God upon the generations of men; it being foretold, that when Christ comes, he shall not find faith upon the earth.23
Sentence Notes
In plain English: Pilate asked “What is truth?” mockingly, and didn't bother waiting to hear the answer.
Why this phrase is worth keeping: A single sentence that sketches a whole character: the person who treats the deepest question as small talk.
Reference & context: Biblical: John 18:38, where Pontius Pilate questions Jesus before his crucifixion. Bacon turns Pilate into the type of person who asks big questions without wanting answers.
In plain English: Some people enjoy keeping their minds unsettled; they feel that committing to any belief is a kind of slavery, and they want the same freedom in thinking that they have in acting.
Reference & context: Philosophical: an allusion to the ancient Sceptics (followers of Pyrrho), who taught that one should suspend judgement on everything.
Modernized: there be → there are some
In plain English: The old sceptical schools have died out, but there are still clever talkers with the same attitude, though they have less energy and substance than the ancient sceptics did.
Reference & context: Bacon plays on “veins” and “blood”: the modern sceptics share the ancients' bloodline, but it runs thinner in them.
Modernized: be → are; be → is
In plain English: Lies are popular not just because truth is hard work to find, or because truth, once found, restricts what we may think. The deeper reason is that people have a natural, though corrupt, love of lies for their own sake.
Reference & context: Structure tip: the sentence is built as “not only A, nor B … but C.” Read the “but” clause last and it falls into place.
Modernized: imposeth → imposes; doth bring → brings
In plain English: A later Greek writer looked into this and was puzzled about why people love lies even when the lies bring no pleasure (as poems do) and no profit (as a merchant's lies do), but are loved simply for being lies.
Reference & context: Literary: Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD), whose dialogue Philopseudes (“The Lover of Lies”) opens with exactly this question.
Modernized: examineth → examines
In plain English: I don't know the answer. But truth is like plain, harsh daylight: it doesn't show off the world's masks, shows and pageants nearly as grandly and prettily as candlelight does.
Reference & context: Bacon's image comes from the court entertainments of his day, staged by candlelight. He wrote a whole essay on them, “Of Masques and Triumphs” (No. 5 in this series).
Modernized: doth not show → does not show
In plain English: Truth may be worth as much as a pearl, which looks best in daylight, but it will never be prized as highly as a diamond or ruby-like stone, which sparkles best under shifting, artificial light.
Reference & context: Biblical echo: the “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:45–46). Bacon's point is that people pay more for glitter than for plain value.
Modernized: showeth → shows; showeth → shows
In plain English: Mixing in a little falsehood always makes things more enjoyable.
Why this phrase is worth keeping: Eight words that explain flattery, advertising, gossip and fiction alike. Bacon states it as a plain fact, not a complaint, which makes it sting.
In plain English: Can anyone doubt that if you removed people's empty opinions, flattering hopes, inflated ideas of their own worth, and wishful daydreams, many of them would be left with shrivelled, gloomy minds that they themselves would dislike?
Reference & context: Structure tip: the core is “Does any man doubt that … it would leave the minds … poor shrunken things?” Everything between the commas is a list of the illusions being removed.
Modernized: Doth → Does
In plain English: One of the early Christian writers harshly called poetry “the wine of devils” because it inflames the imagination; yet poetry deals only in the shadow of a lie, not a real one.
Reference & context: The phrase vinum daemonum is usually attributed to St. Jerome or St. Augustine (4th–5th century). The “Fathers” are the influential theologians of the early Church.
Modernized: fireth → fires
In plain English: The harmful lie is not the one that briefly passes through your mind, but the one that sinks in and settles there, like the comforting illusions mentioned above.
Why this phrase is worth keeping: A precise distinction between entertaining a falsehood and absorbing it. It anticipates modern ideas about how misinformation does its damage.
Modernized: passeth → passes; sinketh → sinks; settleth → settles; doth → does; spake → spoke
In plain English: However much people's corrupt judgments and feelings may favor lies, truth (the only thing that can judge itself) teaches that searching for truth (courting it), knowing truth (being with it), and believing truth (enjoying it) together make up the highest good a human being can have.
Why this phrase is worth keeping: Bacon turns the pursuit of knowledge into a love story in three stages. It is the philosophical heart of the essay.
Reference & context: Note: “love-making” in Bacon's English means courting or wooing, with no physical sense. The three stages (inquiry, knowledge, belief) mirror a courtship, a meeting, and a marriage.
Modernized: doth judge → judges; teacheth → teaches
In plain English: The first thing God created was physical light, which we see by; the last was the light of human reason; and ever since he finished creating, his ongoing work has been to enlighten people through his Spirit.
Reference & context: Biblical: Genesis 1:3 (“Let there be light”), 1:27 (creation of humankind on the sixth day), and 2:2–3 (God rests on the seventh day, the Sabbath).
In plain English: First God breathed light onto the shapeless matter of the universe; then he breathed the light of reason into the first human; and he still breathes spiritual light into those he has chosen.
Reference & context: Biblical: Genesis 1:2 (“darkness was upon the face of the deep”) and 2:7 (God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”). “Inspire” literally means “breathe into.”
Modernized: breatheth → breathes; inspireth → inspires
In plain English: The poet who brought beauty to an otherwise second-rate school of philosophy put it very well: it is pleasant to watch ships tossed at sea from the safety of the shore, or a battle from a castle window; but nothing compares to standing on the high ground of truth, where the air is always clear and no enemy can look down on you, and watching the errors and confusion of the world below. The condition is that you look down with pity, not with arrogance.
Reference & context: Literary: Lucretius, De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), Book II, lines 1–13. Lucretius was the great poet of the Epicurean school, which Bacon considered weaker than the other ancient philosophies. Military term: a hill that is not “commanded” has no higher ground nearby from which an enemy could fire down on it.
Modernized: saith → says; be → is
In plain English: It is truly heaven on earth when a person's mind acts out of love, trusts in God's care, and revolves around truth as the earth turns on its axis.
Why this phrase is worth keeping: A compact ideal of the good life in three verbs. The final image makes truth the fixed axis around which everything else turns.
Reference & context: The image is astronomical: the heavens were thought to turn on fixed poles. Bacon gives the mind three motions: moving, resting, and turning.
In plain English: Turning from religious and philosophical truth to honesty in practical life: even dishonest people admit that open, straightforward dealing is what gives human nature its dignity. Mixing in falsehood is like mixing cheap metal into gold or silver coins: it makes the metal easier to work with, but it lowers its value.
Reference & context: Historical: coins of pure gold or silver are soft, so a little base metal (alloy) was added to harden them. Bacon admits lies can be practically useful, yet still cheapen us.
Modernized: practise it not → do not practise it; embaseth → debasesembases
In plain English: These twisting, dishonest methods are the way a snake moves: it crawls shamefully on its belly instead of walking upright on its feet.
Reference & context: Biblical: Genesis 3:14, where God curses the serpent of Eden: “upon thy belly shalt thou go.”
Modernized: goeth → goes
In plain English: No vice brings a person more shame than being exposed as a liar and a traitor.
Modernized: doth so cover → so covers
In plain English: That is why Montaigne makes a neat point when he asks why being called a liar is such a disgrace and such a hateful accusation.
Reference & context: Literary: Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Book II, Chapter 18, “Of Giving the Lie.” In Bacon's time, to “give someone the lie” (call them a liar) could lead to a duel.
Modernized: saith → says
In plain English: He says: if you think it through, calling someone a liar amounts to saying he is bold enough to defy God but too cowardly to face other people.
Why this phrase is worth keeping: A paradox that exposes the liar's logic: he fears the people in front of him more than the God who sees everything.
Reference & context: Montaigne is himself borrowing from Plutarch's Life of Lysander.
Modernized: Saith he → He says; be → is; lieth → lies
In plain English: A lie stands up boldly in front of God, yet hides from other people.
Why this phrase is worth keeping: The previous idea compressed into seven words, with “faces” and “shrinks” as perfect opposites.
In plain English: Nothing shows how wicked lying and betrayal are more clearly than this: they will be the final alarm bell that summons God's judgement on humanity, since it is prophesied that when Christ returns he will find no faithfulness left on earth.
Reference & context: Biblical: Luke 18:8, “when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” The “last peal” suggests the trumpet or bell of the Last Judgement.
Modernized: cometh → comes
Fun Fact
Bacon published this essay praising “clear and round dealing” in 1625, just four years after his own spectacular fall from power. In 1621, while serving as Lord Chancellor (England's highest judge), he was charged by Parliament with taking bribes from people whose cases he was deciding. He confessed to “corruption and neglect,” was fined £40,000, and spent a few days in the Tower of London. He insisted the gifts had never changed a single verdict. His death was memorable too: according to the antiquary John Aubrey, he caught a fatal chill in 1626 while stuffing a chicken with snow to test whether cold would preserve meat. He was experimenting with the truth to the very end.