Scientia potentia est Scientia potentia est The phrase "scientia potentia est"" (or "scientia est potentia" or also "scientia potestas est")" is a Latin aphorism meaning "knowledge is power". It is commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, although there is no known occurrence of this precise phrase in Bacon's English or Latin writings. However, the expression ""ipsa scientia potestas est"" ('knowledge itself is power') occurs in Bacon's "Meditationes Sacrae" (1597). The exact phrase ""scientia potentia est"" was written for the first time in the 1668 version of the work "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes, who was secretary to Bacon as a young man. The related
De gustibus non est disputandum ancient Latin adage, i.e. Roman, and discussed by many philosophers and economists. The phrase is misquoted in Act I of Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull". The character Shamrayev conflates it with the phrase "de mortuis nil nisi bonum" (in the alternate form: "de mortuis, aut bene aut nihil": "of the dead, either [speak] good or [say] nothing"), resulting in "de gustibus aut bene, aut nihil", "Let nothing be said of taste but what is good." De gustibus non est disputandum De gustibus non est disputandum, or de gustibus non disputandum est, is a Latin maxim meaning "In matters of taste,