The library motto
A school is choosing a motto for its new library. The committee has shortlisted the tag Sapere aude and two translations: (1) 'Dare to know'; (2) 'Dare to be wise'. The library's stated aim is 'independent judgement, not just information gathering'. A parent objects that sapere means 'to taste'-as in the English word sapid-so the motto really means 'Dare to taste'. The committee has 30 minutes and wants a defensible choice, not a history lecture. A Latin dictionary gives sapere: 'to have a flavour; to taste of; to be wise, understand'. The verb aude is imperative 'dare'. The school wants a short note for the minutes explaining the choice and answering the parent. The parent has threatened to write to the board.
1. Which translation should the committee choose, and why? Address the parent's objection.
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Choose 'Dare to be wise' as the more accurate rendering, while allowing 'Dare to know' as a freer alternative.
- Sapere is an infinitive with a range: literally 'to have a flavour, taste of', and figuratively 'to be wise, have sense, understand'. With aude and in a motto about judgement, the figurative sense is the natural one.
- 'Dare to know' is narrower. Latin for 'know' is more often scire or cognoscere; sapere stresses good sense and judgement, which matches the library's aim.
- The parent is right that sapere can mean 'taste', and sapid is indeed from sapidus, 'tasty'. But context and collocation decide meaning. No Roman reader would take Sapere aude as 'Dare to taste' without a food context; aude points to a moral or intellectual act.
- So answer the parent by granting the literal sense but explaining the figurative idiom. The motto is not a mistranslation.
2. The committee likes 'Dare to know' because it sounds active. How could they keep it without mistranslating?
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They can keep 'Dare to know' if they present it as a free or idiomatic rendering rather than a strict gloss. The minutes could say: 'The Latin sapere ranges from "taste" to "be wise"; in this tag it means "be wise/have judgement". "Dare to know" is adopted as a short, active English equivalent, but the more literal rendering is "Dare to be wise".' If the motto must stand alone, pair it with a subtitle such as 'think for yourself' so the sense of judgement is explicit. What they should not do is claim that 'to know' is the only meaning of sapere, or that scire and sapere are interchangeable. The choice depends on the translation brief: strict accuracy favours 'Dare to be wise'; public impact favours 'Dare to know' with a note.