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| 6603 | Nature is revealed when we put it under pressure rather than observe it [Bacon] |
| Full Idea: The secrets of nature reveal themselves more readily under the vexations of art than when they go their own way. | |
| From: Francis Bacon (Preface to Great Instauration (Renewal) [1620], Vol.4.95), quoted by Robert Fogelin - Walking the Tightrope of Reason Ch.5 | |
| A reaction: This is a splendid slogan for the dawn of the age of science, and pinpoints the reason why we have advanced so much further than the Greeks. You can, of course, overdo the 'vexations of art'. It also justifies the critical approach to philosophy. |