Scientia Quae Optima
Magna sciunt homines, horumque scientia multa,
Nulla sed est melior cognitione sui.
Source: Iohannes Pignevvart (1624), Cato Bernardinus. Meter: Elegiac.
The Knowledge Which is Best: People know great things (homines sciunt magna), and they have (horumque) much knowledge (scientia multa), but no other knowledge (sed nulla) is better than (melior est) self-awareness (cognitione sui).
The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There is only one word in this poem that is not on the DCC list:
cognitio (cognitiōnis, f.): knowledge, recognition
hic haec hoc: this; hōc: on this account
homo hominis m.: human being
māgnus -a -um great
melior -ius: better
multus -a -um: much, many; multō, by far
nūllus -a -um: not any, no one
optimus -a -um: best, excellent; adv. optimē
que (enclitic) - and
qui quae quod: who, which, what / quis quid: who? what? which?
scientia -ae f.: knowledge
sciō -īre -īvī/-iī -ītum: know
sed: but
sui, sibi, sē: him- her- itself
sum, esse, fuī: be, exist
