Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of natural philosophy, guided by the scientific method, and his works remained influential throughout the Scientific Revolution.
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Certainly if a man would give it a hard phrase, those that want friends to open themselves unto are cannibals of their own hearts.
Tags: alienation, communication, companionship, confession, emotional, burden, emotional isolation, friendship, human nature, inner life, intimacy, loneliness, psychological insight, self-reflection, social connection​​
... that this communicating of a man's self to his friend works two contrary effects; for it redoubleth joys, and cutteth griefs in halves.
Tags: companionship, emotional relief, empathy, friendship, happiness, human nature, interpersonal relationships, joy, psychological insight, shared experience, social connection, sympathy, trust, vulnerability
For there is no man that imparteth his joys to his friend, but joyeth the more; and no man that imparteth his griefs to his friend, but grieveth the less .
Tags: companionship, emotional relief, empathy, friendship, grief, happiness, human nature, joy, psychological insight, shared experience, social connection,, sympathy, trust,
vulnerability
It is in truth of operation upon a man's mind, of like virtue as the alchemists use to attribute their stone for a man's body; that it worketh all contrary effects, but still to the good and benefit of nature.
Tags: alchemy, balance, benefit, friendship, human nature,
intellectual companionship, mental well-being, metaphor,
philosophy, psychological insight, self-knowledge, transformation, virtue, wisdom
For there is no such flatterer as is a man's self; and there is no such remedy against flattery of a man's self as the liberty of a friend.
Tags: candor, criticism, friendship, honesty, human nature, moral development, psychological insight, self-deception, self-examination, self-knowledge, truth, trust, virtue, wisdom