Francis Bacon (1561-1626) dedicated his life and health to politics (during a particularly turbulent historical period), made decisive contributions to science (refining the scientific method into the most effective instrument for understanding nature), but his secret aspiration was to link his name to literature. Bacon was not so much interested in fiction or theoretical treatises as in a new form, popularized by Montaigne: the essay. A free form of thought on all kinds of subjects common to humankind, where the imagination of the approach proves decisive. For years, the Essays were Bacon's secret pride and his most important contribution to English literature. These brief, concentrated texts, born of a curiosity that ran rampant in multiple directions (truth, death, revenge, envy, and love; but also dissimulation, suspicion, anger, fame, and conversation; and practical knowledge such as health, gardening, and negotiations), continue to speak directly to us, thanks to two great virtues that allow them to withstand the test of time: a lucid understanding of human nature and an almost clinical precision with language. The world changes, but the passions remain, and read centuries later, the words and ideas of Francis Bacon (an intellect determined to think everything for itself) continue to challenge us.