The Great Instauration (Instauratio Magna)

We wish men to be warned to consider the true ends of knowledge; and that they seek it neither for the sake of the mind, nor for contention, nor to look down upon others, nor for profit, nor for fame, nor for power, or any such inferior things, but for merit and the uses of life, and that they may perfect and govern it in charity. For from the desire of power, the angels fell; from the desire of knowledge, men; but there is no excess in charity; nor did an angel or man ever come into danger by it.

Our postulates, however, which we bring forward, are as follows: We are silent about ourselves, but concerning the matter at hand, we ask that men consider it not as an opinion, but as a work; and hold it for certain that we are laying foundations not for any sect or dogma, but for human utility and greatness. Furthermore, that they, being fair to their own interests, having put aside the zeal and prejudices of opinions, should consult for the common good, and, being freed and fortified by our safeguards and aids from the errors of paths and impediments, may themselves come into a share of the labors that remain. Moreover, that they should hope well, and not imagine or conceive in their minds our Instauration as something infinite and beyond what is mortal; since it is in truth the end and legitimate boundary of infinite error; and it is not unmindful of mortality and humanity, since it trusts that the thing cannot be completed entirely within the course of a single age, but destines it for succession; finally, that it seeks the sciences not through arrogance in the cells of human wit, but humbly in the greater world. For those things which are vain are usually vast; solid things are mostly gathered together, and reside in a small space. Finally, it must also be requested