But by far the greatest hindrance and aberration of the human understanding proceeds from the dullness, incompetency, and deceptions of the senses; in that things which strike the sense outweigh things which do not immediately strike it, though they be more important. Hence it is that speculation commonly ceases where sight ceases; insomuch that of things invisible there is little or no observation.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The main error in understanding comes from relying too much on what we see and not on what is important but invisible.
- In plain terms
- We trust our eyes too much and miss important invisible things.
- What can you take from it?
- Look beyond what your senses immediately show.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What can your eyes not see that matters?
- How do you verify invisible forces?
Another view
Sometimes immediate sensory evidence is the best we have.
More from Francis Bacon
The human understanding is unquiet; it cannot stop or rest, and still presses onward, but in vain. Therefore it is that we cannot conceive of any end or limit …
Permalink to quote #45 But the best demonstration by far is experience, if it go not beyond the actual experiment.
Permalink to quote #47 The human understanding is moved by those things most which strike and enter the mind simultaneously and suddenly, and so fill the imagination; and then it fei…
Permalink to quote #44
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