Sir Isaac Newton Quotes

Sir Isaac Newton was an eminent mathematician and physicist, born on 4th January, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, England. He is associated with several important discoveries of the 17th and 18th century. Almost all of us are familiar with Newton's laws of motion and Newton's third law, but there is another side of this influential scientist, which only a few people are aware of - he was a good orator.

Famous Isaac Newton Quotes

Owing to his numerous accomplishments, Newton had become one of the most dominant figure of the early 18th century England. He didn't just restrict his thought process to mathematics and physics, but also ventured into the realms of alchemy, theology and administration. Below is a compilation of some of his famous quotes.

"To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction."

"If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent."

"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."

"Errors are not in the art but in the artificers."

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges."

"To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me."

"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."

"I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people."

"This most beautiful system (The Universe) could only proceed from the dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being."

"Philosophy is such an impertinently litigious lady that a man has as good be engaged in law suits as have to do with her." (In a letter to Edmund Halley)

"If I have done the public any service, it is due to my patient thought."

"About the Time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the Prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition."

"We are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances."

"I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light."

"To me there has never been a higher source of earthly honor or distinction than that connected with advances in science."

"Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy."

"It is the weight, not numbers of experiments that is to be regarded."

"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."

"No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess."

Newton on God and Religion

When famous people comment on topics such as god and religion, the probability of giving birth to a controversy is high. Perhaps this is the reason most of the famous people avoid saying something which would stir up a controversy. Sir Isaac Newton was an exception though. A prominent scholar of theology, Newton had a lot to say about religion as well as god.

"Atheism is so senseless & odious to mankind that it never had many professors."

"In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God's existence."

"Idolatry is a more dangerous crime because it is apt by the authority of Kings & under very specious pretenses to insinuate itself into mankind."

"The most beautiful system of the Sun, Planets and Comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent being. All variety of created objects which represent order and Life in the Universe could happen only by the willful reasoning of its original Creator, whom I call the Lord God."

These quotes don't just inspire you, but also trigger a thought process in your mind. Like Newton's accomplishments, even his quotes are ideal tools of inculcating critical thinking in people. If Newton was to lack critical thinking, the laws of gravity would have had eluded mankind for some more time. We ought to learn something from the achievements of this great person.