For you must note, that we speak now of the heart, and not of the purse.
The surrounding passage

The blessing of Judah and Issachar will never meet; that the same people, or nation, should be both the lion's whelp and the ass between burthens; neither will it be, that a people overlaid with taxes, should ever become valiant and martial. It is true that taxes levied by consent of the estate, do abate men's courage less: as it hath been seen notably, in the excises of the Low Countries; and, in some degree, in the subsidies of England. For you must note, that we speak now of the heart, and not of the purse. So that although the same tribute and tax, laid by consent or by imposing, be all one to the purse, yet it works diversely upon the courage. So that you may conclude, that no people overcharged with tribute, is fit for empire.

The work and its creator

Explore the original at Project Gutenberg โ†—

Creator: Francis Bacon
Nationality / cultural background: English
Work / edition: 1625

Historical public-domain text. Selected passage; line-end whitespace normalised. No generated quotation.

In the source: Of Truth; paragraph 176 in the selected body section

Selected for the Brief on 16 Sep 2026. This date records our selection, rather than when the work was created.