ESSAYS OR COUNSELS
CIVIL AND MORAL
Of Great Place
Men in great place are thrice servants: servants of
the sovereign or state; servants of fame; and servants of business. So as they
have no freedom; neither in their persons, nor in their actions, nor in their
times. It is a strange desire, to seek power and to lose liberty: or to seek
power over others, and to lose power over a man's self. The rising unto place
is laborious; and by pains, men come to greater pains; and it is sometimes
base; and by indignities, men come to dignities. The standing is slippery, and
the regress is either a downfall, or at least an eclipse, which is a melancholy
thing.
All rising to great place is by a winding star; and
if there be factions, it is good to side a man's self, whilst he is in the
rising, and to balance himself when he is placed. Use the memory of thy
predecessor, fairly and tenderly; for if thou dost not, it is a debt will sure
be paid when thou art gone. If thou have colleagues, respect them, and rather
call them, when they look not for it, than exclude them, when they have reason
to look to be called. Be not too sensible, or too remembering, of thy place in
conversation, and private answers to suitors; but let it rather be said, When he sits in
place, he is another man.
---Sir Francis Bacon
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