chase more honour, than by effecting a matter of greater difficulty or virtue, wherein he is but a follower. If a man so temper his actions, as[1] in some one of them he doth content every faction or combination of people, the music will be the fuller. A man is an ill husband[2] of his honour, that entereth into any action, the failing wherein may disgrace him more than the carrying of it through can honour him. Honour that is gained and broken upon another[3] hath the quickest reflexion, like diamonds cut with fascets. And therefore let a man contend to excel any competitors of his in honour, in out-shooting them, if he can, in their own bow. Discreet followers and servants help much to reputation. Omnis fama a domesticis emanat.[4] Envy, which is the canker of honour, is best extinguished by declaring a man's self in his ends rather to seek merit than fame; and by attributing a man's successes rather to divine Providence and felicity, than to his own virtue or policy. The true marshalling of the degrees of sovereign honour are these. In
- ↑ As. That.
- ↑ Husband. One who manages his affairs with skill and thrift; a saving, frugal, or provident man; an economist. "I gave each of them a Musket with a Firelock on it, and about eight Charges of Powder and Ball, charging them to be very good Husbands of both, and not to use either of them but upon urgent Occasion." Defoe. The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, p. 253 (Globe edition).
- ↑ The Latin essay reads, "Honor qui comparativus est et alium praegravat," Honor which is gained and weighs down or depresses another, that is, 'honor which is gained by overcoming a competitor.'
- ↑ All fame emanates from domestics. Bacon is quoting from a letter of Quintus Cicero to his brother Marcus Tullius, "Nam fere omnis sermo ad forensem famam a domesticis emanat auctoribus." Epistola Q. Ciceronis De Petitione Consulatus ad M. Fratrem. V. 17. M. Tullii Ciceronis Scripta Quae Manserunt Omnia. III. 649. R. Klotz. Leipzig. 1885.
