Always Learning, Always Improving

Question

Writing a team motto and I was looking for a translation of "Always Learning, Always Improving" This would apply to a team of professionals, so I want to imply self-development, continuing education, continuous improvement... Possibly "Semper Eruditio, Semper Melius"? ... perhaps Disciplino instead of Eruditio?

Answer 1

I’d vote for discendo crescit, which means it grows or increases or improves by learning. Not a literal translation but I think the spirit of the motto is preserved and, more importantly, makes the improvement the consequent of the learning.it

Answer 2

First quick note: Eruditio cannot work because it's the wrong type of "learning." Eruditio is learning as an abstract noun, similar to what it would mean in the sentence, "His learning has helped him make wise decisions." This is separate from the participial use you have in your motto. You cannot, e.g., add "always" in front of this learning: "His always learning has..." ― that makes no sense.

Always learning had been answered before, and applies to both single persons and collective entities, but not for plural nouns. (So it works for "I am..." "He is..." or "The group is..." but not "We are...)

"Always improving" is a bit more difficult. One option would be to use melior ("better") with the verb fio ("to become"), such as in Cato's *De Agri Cultura 93. However, there is no participle for fio, so the parallel fails.

One possibility though is coupling it with another verb, such as studeo ("to strive, to be zealous for").

So, semper discens, semper melior fieri studens.

Literally: "Always learning, always striving to become better."

This could change depending on, as I mentioned, whether the subject is singular or plural and the grammatical gender of the subject, but it works fine as a motto (cf. semper fidelis).

The upside to using studens is that it is the root of student, which reinforces the "learning" part of your motto, at least in English. (In Latin, students were discipuli.) The only potential issue with this particular construction is whether such a phrase is too clumsily spoken, but that's more subjective.