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About this quote

What does it mean?
True virtue stands on its own without needing fancy display.
In plain terms
Good character is like a fine stone that doesn't need decoration.
What can you take from it?
Let your character speak for itself.

Where it applies

  • leadership
  • personal reputation
  • ethical choices

Putting it to work

  • avoid self-promotion
  • trust actions over display

Questions to consider

  • Do you trust quiet competence?
  • How much effort do you spend looking good?

Another view

Some contexts require visible credentials.

More from Francis Bacon

  1. Young men are fitter to invent than to judge, fitter for execution than for counsel, and fitter for new projects than for settled business.

    Permalink to quote #124
  2. There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.

    Permalink to quote #126
  3. Chiefly the mold of a man's fortune is in his own hands.

    Permalink to quote #123

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