The famous phrase scientia potentia est is a Latin maxim "For also knowledge itself is power" stated originally by Sir Francis Bacon in Meditationes Sacrae (1597), which in modern times is often paraphrased as "knowledge is power." The phrase implies that with knowledge or education one's potential or abilities in life will probably increase. It is also used as a justification for a reluctance to share information as some form of advantage can be gained through the use or manipulation of knowledge. It is possible that Bacon was paraphrasing Proverbs 24:5: "A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength."
In a study of how power influences knowledge, the author found that even if Bacon's dictum that knowledge is power is true it is also an oversimplification (Flyvbjerg 1998). The opposite is often more true, that power is knowledge, in the sense that power decides which knowledge is produced in a given social setting and gets to count as knowledge in discourse and decision making.

See also

Cognitive elite
Intelligence (information gathering)
Information warfare