Sentence:  The Greeks in their tongue call this second type of maxim "noema". The <WSD>gnome</WSD> is more appropriate to the philosophers, and the noema to the orators, to the poets, and to the historians. To speak by <WSD>gnomes</WSD> alone was referred to by the Greeks as "philosophizing" which we Italians would render as "to mouth maxims" ("sputar sentenze"). 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (saying) A brief reflection or maxim; a pithy saying.