Men in great places are thrice servants: servants of the sovereign or state, servants of fame, and servants of business. So as they have no freedom, neitheir in their persons nor in their actions nor in their times. It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty; or toseek power over others and to lose power over a man's self. The rising unto place is laborious, and by pains men come to greater pains; and it is sometimes base, and by indignities men come to dignities. The standiness is slippery, and the regress is either a downfall or at last an eclipse, which is a melancholy thing. Cum son sis qui fueris, non esse cur velis vivere. [When you are no longer what you were there is no reason for wishing to live - Cicero, Letters to Friends, VII.3-4.]

Sir Francis BACON [pub.1597-1625] Essays



Imagem: Francis Bacon [1953] Inocêncio X