[English] Francis Bacon: Essays, translated by He Xin, revised edition, Hualing Publishing House, April 2001
This may well count as one of the oldest and most famous “self-help” books in the world. The edition I read is precisely one of the so-called “New Century Youth Self-Help Bookshelf” series; among the same series are Machiavelli’s The Prince, Adler’s Overcoming Self-Doubt, Schopenhauer’s On the Sufferings of Love and Gender, and Rousseau’s Reveries of a Solitary Walker. These sorts of “self-help” books are obviously far more meaningful than things like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People or Live Happily and Wealthily All Your Life.
Of course, as a rule I don’t read self-help books. Even books that are supposed to be very good, such as The Weakness of Human Nature and Chicken Soup for the Soul, I can’t be bothered to read. Half a year ago I did read Krishnamurti’s Things to Think About in Life, and got almost nothing out of it, though of course it is a good book. This is because I feel that immersing oneself in the life philosophy found in such self-help books is merely laziness in thinking for oneself; one’s own life should be grasped by oneself and thought through by oneself. Of course, reading self-help books in moderation, to help oneself reflect on life and gain inspiration and encouragement from aphorisms and stories, should also be a good thing. Unfortunately, I have long since arrived at a whole set of self-consistent thoughts and theories about life. For the moment I do not want to promote my still unclear theory, but I no longer need, nor will I again receive, help from self-help books. Naturally, my theory of life will be nowhere near as profound or complete as those of people with rich life experience. Still, I have not the slightest need for outside help; I only want to think and act out my life independently. If I always need books to give me guidance and inspiration, then I might as well read philosophy books—at the very least, thinkers such as Liang Shuming and Qian Mu—rather than books written by “spiritual mentors” who make a living writing self-help books, or by so-called “successful people.” Even the best self-help book is written for the weak. Of course, religious faith is also a soft comfort for weakness, and indeed a kind of anesthetic. But after independent reflection and searching, consciously converting to some sacred belief, whether religious or otherwise, is not the same as from the very beginning looking for self-help books to anesthetize oneself. Of course, even unreflective religious devotion or lazily seeking help from self-help books can, if guided properly, be highly positive as well.
Bacon’s book is of course not merely a self-help book. It is a collection of essays, made up of nearly sixty independent short pieces such as “Of Truth,” “Of Goodness,” “Of Studies,” “Of Ceremonies and Respects,” and “Of Expense.” The prose is fluent, the language beautiful, and the insights distinctive.
This reminds me of an idea I had at the beginning of winter break: to write a series of “keyword prompt essays.” I originally planned to take a series of two-character terms as topics and write about a thousand characters on each, to fill up a winter break’s worth of blog posts. But later I settled on a more down-to-earth plan of reading one book a day, and so that “keyword prompt essay” plan came to nothing. In fact, I had already arranged an entire series of keywords at the time. I’ll list them below for now, and when I next have the time and the mood, I’ll come back and put pen to paper:
“Starry sky Rainwater Philosophy Science Religion Ethics Mathematics Physics Happiness Life Death Love Friendship Fate Destiny Self Freedom Democracy Progress Thought System Education Principle Society Family Nation
Culture Development Economy History Critique Reflection Doubt Vanity Sympathy Jealousy Language Writing Poetry People Masses Great Men Human Nature Humankind Ecology Nature Women Genes Information Chaos Quantum Kantianism Confucianism
Laozi-Zhuangzi Buddhism Christianity God Faith Beauty Time Equality Duty Rights Responsibility Power Aging Gentlemen Great Learning Tradition Modernity”
Below I excerpt some of Bacon’s words. Of course, with Bacon’s views I mostly maintain reservations. The reason for quoting them is not that I especially support them, but because I find them interesting or reasonable.
Page 3 (“Of Truth”) If a man can fill his heart with love for humanity, conduct himself according to the sublime moral law, and let his soul revolve forever around truth as its axis, then even while he lives among men he is, in a sense, living in heaven.
Page 14 (“Of Parents and Children”)
In the presence of their children, parents are compelled to hide their various joys, worries, and fears. Their joys need no saying, and their worries and fears cannot be said. Children sweeten their toil, but they also deepen their misery. Children increase the burden of their life, yet lessen their fear of death.
Pages 28–29 (“Of Friendship”) The strange power of friendship is this: if you tell a friend your joy, you will gain two joys; and if you pour out your sorrow to a friend, you will have half your sorrow taken away.
Page 35 (“Of Discourse”) One must also remember that being good at keeping silence is itself an art of conversation.
Page 37 (“Of Studies”)
Reading serves for delight, for ornament, and for ability. When one is alone and lonely, reading provides delight; in conversation, knowledge serves as ornament; in dealing with affairs, the correct use of knowledge means ability.
Page 38 (“Of Studies”)
Books are like food. Some are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and only a few need to be chewed carefully and savored slowly. So some books need only be read in part, some only in summary, and a few good books should be read through, read closely, and read again and again.
Some books may be read by proxy, and then one only needs to look at the reader’s notes and summary. But this should be limited to discussions of no great importance and to books of poor quality. Otherwise a book will become like water that has already been distilled: thin and tasteless.
Reading makes a man full, discussion makes him ready, and writing makes him exact. ////——I wholeheartedly agree with this point about reading.
Page 47 (“Of Envy”)
The vicious must surely envy the virtuous. If the human soul cannot draw nourishment from its own merits, it must seek nourishment in other people’s faults; the envious often have neither merits of their own nor the ability to see the merits of others, and so they can only comfort themselves by ruining other people’s happiness. When a person lacks a certain virtue in himself, he will surely belittle that same virtue in others in order to restore equilibrium between the two.
Page 52 (“Of Envy”)
What is called “public envy” is in fact also a kind of public resentment, a kind of disease. Once the people develop this sort of public resentment toward their rulers, then even the best policies will be cast aside. Thus a ruler who has lost the hearts of the people will not win popular support even when he is doing good.
Page 78 (“Of Vainglory”) Vanity is like paint: it not only makes objects appear splendid, but can also protect the objects themselves.
Page 80 (“Of Anger”)
The Stoic philosophers held that people ought to banish anger, but this is impossible. On this point we have a better view, namely the admonition of God: “Be angry, but do not sin; be angry, but do not let the sun go down on your anger.”
Page 97 (“Of Death”)
Yet human feeling is not truly so weak as to be unable to resist the terror of death. There are many emotions in the human heart whose strength is enough to conquer death—hatred overpowers death, love despises death, a sense of honor makes one dedicate oneself to death, and immense grief makes one rush toward death. Only cowardice and weakness make a person die before he has even died.
Page 111 (“Of Praise”) The only thing a person can boast of is duty, for those who undertake great duties have the right to be proud.
Page 151 (“Of Travel”)
After finishing a journey and returning home, do not at once put the foreign lands you have visited completely out of mind; instead, continue corresponding with those newly made and valuable friends. One should also take care not to return home and then dress oneself up in foreign attire. When people ask about your travels, it is best to answer as one who replies, not as one who boasts. Do not make yourself into the eyes of others someone who, after going abroad once, forgets the customs of his ancestors; rather, be a reformer who knows how to transplant the excellent plants of other countries into his own soil.
Page 172 (“Of the Unity of Religion and Faith”)
Religious faith is one of the important pillars of human society. If religious faith is peaceful, then that society will be progressive.
As for the pagans, it seems they never fell into conflict over differences in belief and opinion. Perhaps this is because their religion had ritual but lacked superstition.
Page 186 (“Of Atheism”) Superficial philosophical thinking leads people to atheism, but profound thought on the universe and philosophy will inevitably bring one to God.
Page 189 (“Of Atheism”)
In bodily terms, human beings are no different from beasts. If one does not also pursue the sacred in spirit, then there is absolutely no difference between man and bird or beast.…………When a person’s heart contains a sacred ideal and faith, then infinite will and strength can be aroused. Such will and strength cannot arise without reliance on some faith. For this reason, atheism is abhorrent. Human nature is weak to begin with, and atheism further destroys at the root the spiritual force by which people conquer evil in their hearts. This is true not only of individuals, but also of nations and states.
Page 191 (“Of Superstition”) With regard to God, it is better not to have any faith at all than to fall into a false faith. For the latter is blasphemy against God, whereas the former is merely ignorance of God. To superstitiously worship God is in essence to blaspheme God.
Page 193 (“Of Superstition”)
And a superstition, if it appears in the form of devout religion, becomes even more detestable. As the old saying goes, decay breeds maggots; certain religious rites that were once sacred may, over time, rot into empty formalities and impose heavy costs on believers. But on the other hand, when people hate an old superstition, they often overcorrect, and the result is that they fall into a contrary superstition of belief. So in opposing a superstition, one should be careful not to go too far. ////——These words are still applicable to science and religion today.
Page 198 (“Of Cunning”) Some people like to mystify things, speaking in half-hidden ways; in fact, this is because beyond a little surface knowledge they know nothing at all about the matter.
Page 199 (“Of Cunning”) Some people despise everything they do not understand, masking their own ignorance with contempt.
February 12, 2006
Latest Comments
Yuan
2006-02-12 22:14:21 [Reply]
Can you explain why you settled on the keywords so early?
Me
2006-02-12 23:07:22 [Reply]
I was trying to write an independent article around each “keyword,” and altogether they would probably come to something much like Bacon’s Essays~~
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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