Francis Bacon; this sentence was inscribed on one side of the Golden Door of the Transportation Building at the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, as reported in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989)
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There be three things which make a nation great and prosperous: a fertile soil, busy workshops, easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place.
— Francis Bacon on Greatness
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "There be three things which make a nation great and prosperous: a fertile soil, busy workshops, easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place." in the context of "Francis Bacon; this sentence was inscribed on one side of the Golden Door of the Transportation Building at the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, as reported in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Greatness" (B)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist. His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Most importantly, he argued this could be achieved by use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. His general idea of the importance and possibility of a skeptical methodology makes Bacon the father of the scientific method. This marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, the practical details of which are still central in debates about science and methodology today.
About Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist. His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Most importantly, he argued this could be achieved by use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. His general idea of the importance and possibility of a skeptical methodology makes Bacon the father of the scientific method. This marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, the practical details of which are still central in debates about science and methodology today.
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