Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian, and author (described in his own day as a “natural philosopher”) who is widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time, and a key figure in the scientific revolution. His book, Principles of Natural Philosophy, laid the foundations of classical mechanics. Newton formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation that formed the dominant scientific viewpoint until it was superseded by the theory of relativity.
Newton built the first practical reflecting telescope, developed a sophisticated theory of colour, formulated an empirical law of cooling, made the first theoretical calculation of the speed of sound, introduced the notion of a Newtonian fluid, contributed to the study of power series, generalized the binomial theorem to non-integer exponents, developed a method for approximating the roots of a function, and classified most of the cubic plane curves.
Some of the best quotes from Isaac Newton are listed below.
- “A man may imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true, for if the things be false, the apprehension of them is not understanding.” – Isaac Newton
- “A passion for calculus can unlock new worlds.” – Isaac Newton
- “All my discoveries have been made in answer to prayer.” – Isaac Newton
- “An object that is at rest will tend to remain at rest. An object that is in motion will tend to remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.” – Isaac Newton
- “As a blind man has no idea of colors, so have we no idea of the manner by which the all-wise God perceives and understands all things.” – Isaac Newton
- “Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.” – Isaac Newton
- “Did blind chance know that there was light and what was its refraction, and fit the eyes of all creatures after the most curious manner to make use of it? These and other suchlike considerations, always have, and always will prevail with mankind, to believe that there is a Being who made all things, who has all things in his power, and who is therefore to be feared.” – Isaac Newton
- “Don’t doubt the Creator because it is inconceivable that accidents alone could be the controller of this universe.” – Isaac Newton
- “Errors are not in the art but in the artificers.” – Isaac Newton
- “Genius is patience.” – Isaac Newton
- “God created everything by number, weight, and measure.” – Isaac Newton
- “Gravity explains the motions of the planets but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion.” – Isaac Newton
- “He who thinks half-heartedly will not believe in God; but he who really thinks has to believe in God.” – Isaac Newton
- “I believe the more I study science, the more I believe in God.” – Isaac Newton
- “I consider my greatest accomplishment to be lifelong celibacy.” – Isaac Newton
- “I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” – Isaac Newton
- “If I am anything, which I highly doubt, I have made myself so by hard work.” – Isaac Newton
- “If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been due more to patient attention, than to any other talent.” – Isaac Newton
- “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton
- “If others would think as hard as I did, then they would get similar results.” – Isaac Newton
- “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” – Isaac Newton
- “Inherent force of matter is the power of resisting by which everybody, so far as it is able, perseveres in its state either of resting or of moving uniformly straight forward.” – Isaac Newton
- “It is the weight, not numbers of experiments that is to be regarded.” – Isaac Newton
- “It seems probable to me that God, in the beginning, formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, moveable particles.” – Isaac Newton
- “Live your life as an exclamation rather than an explanation.” – Isaac Newton
- “My powers are ordinary. Only my application brings me success.” – Isaac Newton
- “Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy.” – Isaac Newton
- “No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.” – Isaac Newton
- “Physics, beware of metaphysics.” – Isaac Newton
- “Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.” – Isaac Newton
- “Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.” – Isaac Newton
- “The best and safest method of philosophizing seems to be first to inquire diligently into the properties of things, and establishing those properties by experiments, and then to proceed more slowly to hypotheses for the explanation of them.” – Isaac Newton
- “The best way to understanding is a few good examples.” – Isaac Newton
- “The moon gravitates towards the earth, and by the force of gravity is continually drawn off from a rectilinear motion and retained in its orbit.” – Isaac Newton
- “The proper method for inquiring after the properties of things is to deduce them from experiments.” – Isaac Newton
- “The seed of a tree has the nature of a branch or twig or bud. It is a part of the tree, but if separated and set in the earth to be better nourished, the embryo or young tree contained in it takes root and grows into a new tree.” – Isaac Newton
- “The way to chastity is not to struggle directly with incontinent thoughts but to avert the thoughts by some imployment, or by reading, or meditating on other things.” – Isaac Newton
- “The wonderful arrangement and harmony of the cosmos would only originate in the plan of an almighty omniscient being. This is and remains my greatest comprehension.” – Isaac Newton
- “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.” – Isaac Newton
- “To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age. ‘Tis much better to do a little with certainty, and leave the rest for others that come after you, than to explain all things by conjecture without making sure of anything.” – Isaac Newton
- “To me there has never been a higher source of earthly honor or distinction than that connected with advances in science.” – Isaac Newton
- “Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” – Isaac Newton
- “Truth is the offspring of silence and meditation. I keep the subject constantly before me and wait ’til the first dawning opens slowly, by little and little, into a full and clear light.” – Isaac Newton
- “We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” – Isaac Newton
- “What goes up must come down.” – Isaac Newton
- “What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.” – Isaac Newton
- “Whence arises all that order and beauty we see in the world.” – Isaac Newton
- “You have to make the rules, not follow them.” – Isaac Newton
