Knowledge is power.

The maxim is commonly attributed to Francis Bacon (1561–1626), the English philosopher and statesman who championed empirical inquiry and the practical uses of learning. In the early 17th century Bacon argued that knowledge should not be merely contemplative but should yield “works” that improve human life—an outlook central to the emerging scientific method and to his broader program for the “advancement of learning.” The familiar wording “Knowledge is power” is a later condensation of Bacon’s Latin formulation, which appears in his early work on the interpretation of nature and the reform of learning.

The saying links understanding to agency: to know how the world works is to gain the capacity to predict, control, and transform it. In Bacon’s framework, knowledge is not an ornament of the mind but an instrument—its value is proved by effects in the world (technology, medicine, governance, and other “works”). The phrase also carries an implicit ethical and political warning: whoever possesses superior knowledge may wield disproportionate influence, so the production and distribution of knowledge shape social power. As a motto, it encapsulates the modern belief that progress depends on systematic inquiry and usable results.

• “Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.”
• “Knowledge itself is power.”