Qui gloriam tantum quaerit, dignitatem saepe spernit.

Here qui means the person who or whoever. It is a relative pronoun, but in sentences like this it often has a very general sense:

• Qui gloriam tantum quaerit = the one who seeks only glory
• or more freely, whoever seeks only glory

So the sentence is making a general statement about a type of person.

Qui here is masculine singular nominative.

That tells you it is the subject of quaerit. Latin often uses the masculine singular in a general sense when speaking about a person in general, not necessarily specifically a male person.

If the sentence were talking about a woman, you would expect quae. If it were plural, you would expect qui again, but the verb would be plural too.

Both quaerit and spernit are transitive verbs, so they take a direct object in the accusative.

• gloriam = glory as the thing being sought
• dignitatem = dignity as the thing being despised/scorned

So:

• gloriam quaerit = seeks glory
• dignitatem spernit = despises dignity

The -am ending in gloriam and the -em ending in dignitatem mark them as accusative singular.

Here tantum means only.

So gloriam tantum quaerit means he seeks only glory.

This is an example of tantum being used as an adverb, not as an adjective. It limits the verb idea: the person seeks glory, and glory alone.

Because here it is functioning as an adverb meaning only, not as an adjective agreeing with gloriam.

Compare:

• gloriam tantum quaerit = he seeks only glory
  (tantum = adverb, only)

But if Latin wanted an adjective meaning something like so great a glory, you might get:

• tantam gloriam = so great a glory

So in your sentence, tantum is not describing gloriam; it is restricting the action of seeking.

Both are present tense, third person singular, active voice.

• quaerit = he/she seeks
• spernit = he/she despises / scorns

Because the sentence is a general statement, the present tense has a gnomic or general truth feel:

• A person who seeks only glory often despises dignity.

In Latin, once the subject is established, it often does not need to be repeated.

The clause qui gloriam tantum quaerit introduces the person. Then spernit naturally continues with that same subject:

• the one who seeks only glory ... often despises dignity

Latin does not need to repeat a pronoun like is or ille here.

Latin usually does not need an explicit subject pronoun, because the verb ending already tells you the person and number.

• quaerit = he/she/it seeks
• spernit = he/she/it despises

Since qui already identifies the subject, there is no need to add a separate word for he.

Latin word order is more flexible than English because the endings show the grammatical roles.

A very literal arrangement is:

• Who glory only seeks, dignity often despises.

That sounds unnatural in English, but it is perfectly normal Latin style.

The order here helps with emphasis:

• Qui first introduces the kind of person
• gloriam tantum puts focus on glory alone
• dignitatem saepe spernit gives the result or characteristic behavior

So the sentence is organized rhetorically, not just mechanically.

Saepe is an adverb meaning often.

It modifies spernit:

• dignitatem saepe spernit = he often despises dignity

It does not mean always. The sentence is saying that this is a frequent tendency, not an absolute rule.

All three are possible in English depending on style.

Latin qui in this kind of sentence often has a broad, general meaning. So you could translate it as:

• the one who seeks only glory
• whoever seeks only glory
• he who seeks only glory

English chooses whichever sounds most natural in context.

They are related ideas, but not the same.

• gloria often means glory, fame, public renown
• dignitas often means dignity, worth, standing, moral or social respectability

So the sentence contrasts:

• the desire for outward recognition (gloria) with
• respect for true worth or dignity (dignitas)

That contrast is important to the sense of the sentence.

• quaerit comes from quaerere and is a 3rd-conjugation -io verb
• spernit comes from spernere, a regular 3rd-conjugation verb

So:

• quaero, quaerere, quaesivi, quaesitum
• sperno, spernere, sprevi, spretum

A learner may notice that both are 3rd person singular present, but they come from slightly different patterns within the broader 3rd conjugation.

Yes. Latin punctuation is a modern editorial addition, not something ancient authors used in the same way we do.

So both of these are possible in printed Latin:

• Qui gloriam tantum quaerit, dignitatem saepe spernit.
• Qui gloriam tantum quaerit dignitatem saepe spernit.

The comma simply helps the modern reader see the division between the relative clause and the main statement.