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
Radix malorum est cupiditas desire, inordinate longing or lust; covetousness", placing the weight firmly on the lecherous side of the reference of this word, which came into our language from Latin, and perhaps through French. That its biblical reference is to the desire of filthy lucre seems established, but to the Latin-literate medieval people the other cultural reference, to the desires of the flesh, must have been an alternative meaning. Radix malorum est cupiditas Radix malorum est cupiditas is a Biblical quotation in Latin that means "greed is the root of evil" (or, in sentence order, the root of evil is greed). This Latin