Of Studies Francis Bacon Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.

Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse, and for ability is in the judgement and disposition of business. For expert men can execute and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels and plots and sharing of affairs come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgement wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature and are perfected by experience; for natural abilities are like natural plants that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they are bounded in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not for their own use; but there is wisdom without them and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confuse nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk for discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some few to be read wholly and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others, but that would be only in less important arguments and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he need have a great memory; if he confer little, he need have much present wit and if he read little, he need have much cunning to seem to know what he does not. Histories make men wise; poems, witty; mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep and moral and grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend, Abeunt studia in mores, Nay, there is no stone or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and veins, shooting for the lungs and breasts, gentle walking for the stomach, riding for the head, and the like. So if a mans wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his be called away ever so little, he must begin again, if his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen, for the are hair-splitters; if he be not apt to bear over matters and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers cases; so every defect of the mind may have a special remedy.

ANALYSIS OF THE ESSAY The essay, Of Studies, written by Francis Bacon during the Renaissance period was one of his most famous writings. The essay focuses on the importance of studying and the knowledge that comes from it. The first paragraph of the essay tells of the purpose for studying. The first statement, Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability, indicate that people study with the intention of pleasing themselves, making them more superior to others, and attaining more knowledge. They perfect nature and are perfected by experience; for natural plants abilities are like natural plants that need pruning by study. This sentence connotes the authors belief that through studying and experience, man can learn from their mistakes and thus, perfecting their skills. Next, Bacon considers what person despises studies and what person praises them and what person can make practical use of them. The crafty men condemn studies; simple men admire them while the wise men make ultimate use of it. The statement, crafty men condemn studies, denote that skilful men are tired of studies and do not want to make use of their knowledge while the statement, simple men admire them, mean that these simple men only praise them but do not make an effort to gain more knowledge. Lastly, wise men make ultimate use of it, indicates that wise men share their knowledge to those people who are in need of guidance in studying. Furthermore, the author implies the different kinds of classifications of books. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. This assertion indicates that some types of books need to be understood only, while some should be taken by heart and applied in our daily lives. The books according to its value and utility are to be devised into various modes of articulations. Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man; this signifies that if a person reads a lot, he will know a lot about the world but will not experience it. Furthermore, if a person always asks questions, he will turn out to be a ready man, or in other words, a knowledgeable man who is always prepared with whatever comes at him. Individuals can learn many things from many fields of studies. One example is the History. According to the essay, Histories make men wise. This means that as time goes by, people learn from their mistakes and thus, make them wiser in their everyday lives. In his short essay, he strives to persuade men to study, and tells his readers how to study so that they can get the best from what they had read in a particular selection.