As in nature, things move violently to their place, and calmly in their place, so virtue in ambition is violent, in authority settled and calm .
Ans. These lines have been cited from the essay Of Great Place written by Francis Bacon. Bacon is here referring to an Aristotelian theory according to which every object has its own proper and fixed place in nature. Bacon says that just as in nature things move with a violent movement till they reach their proper place and then their movements become orderly and are regulated by fixed laws, similar is the case with men in power; they act restlessly and violently to realize their ambitions; but as soon as they reach their proper place, their virtue reveals itself in orderly, beneficent conduct. Therefore, really virtuous men show themselves to an advantage when they have attained a high place. However violent and unscrupulous they might have been in the course of their rise. their energy is directed to beneficent activities once they have risen and are satisfied. Thus on reaching the desired position he would settle down to a calm, neutral, and beneficent conduct. manifest in his reference to the Aristotelian idea. Bacon is very fond of such fanciful analogies. His wide learning is manifest in his reference to the Aristotelian idea.
