Q0184

Francis Bacon

A verified English rendering from the curated archive.

English

For knowledge itself is power.
Thinker Francis Bacon
School Scientific Method
Source Meditationes Sacrae（1597）
Theme Knowledge
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source context

This English passage is associated with Meditationes Sacrae（1597）, within the tradition of Scientific Method. The wording below is a verified rendering prepared for careful reading rather than a claim of unique translation authority.

A short reading

Read in the register of knowledge, the sentence asks the reader to test an assumption rather than to collect a slogan. In Francis Bacon's wider work, similar claims are usually offered as prompts for judgment: what would have to be true for the sentence to hold, and what would follow if it did?

How to cite this quotation

APA: Francis Bacon. (n.d.). For knowledge itself is power. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0184

MLA: Francis Bacon. “For knowledge itself is power..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0184.

Chicago: Francis Bacon. “For knowledge itself is power..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0184.

Same thinker

More from Francis Bacon

  1. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
  2. Human knowledge and human power meet in one.

All quotations by Francis Bacon

Same theme

More on knowledge

  1. What I do not know, I do not claim to know.
  2. No one errs willingly.
  3. What then is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I wish to explain it to one who asks, I do not know.
  4. What do I know?
  5. Once in a lifetime, everything must be doubted.

Browse the knowledge theme