“A man speaking sense to himself is no madder than a man speaking nonsense not to himself.”
Tom Stoppard (1937) British playwright
Search
Topics
Quotes
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) British physicist and mathematician and founder of modern classical physics
Letter to Robert Hooke (15 February 1676) [dated as 5 February 1675 using the Julian calendar with March 25th rather than January 1st as New Years Day, equivalent to 15 February 1676 by Gregorian reckonings.] A facsimile of the original is online at The digital Library https://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/objects/9792. The quotation is 7-8 lines up from the bottom of the first page. The phrase is most famous as an expression of Newton's but he was using a metaphor which in its earliest known form was attributed to Bernard of Chartres by John of Salisbury: Bernard of Chartres used to say that we [the Moderns] are like dwarves perched on the shoulders of giants [the Ancients], and thus we are able to see more and farther than the latter. And this is not at all because of the acuteness of our sight or the stature of our body, but because we are carried aloft and elevated by the magnitude of the giants. Modernized variants: If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants. <br class="br">Variant: If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of Giants. <br class="br">Source: The Correspondence Of Isaac Newton
“I would rather be confused for 10 minutes than bored for 5 seconds.”
Russell T. Davies (1963) Screenwriter, former executive producer of Doctor Who
“For your life to be great, your faith must be bigger than your fear.”
Robin S. Sharma (1965) Canadian self help writer
Source: The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO: A Remarkable Story about Living Your Heart's Desires
“Jason decided there was nothing in the world scarier than a gang of bat-wielding grannies.”
Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus
Source: The Blood of Olympus
“I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
“the body is wiser than its inhabitants. the body is the soul. the body is god’s messenger.”
Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic
“Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.”
Barbara Johnson (1947–2009) American literary critic
“It's a curse, you know, to be able to look higher than you're allowed to reach.”
Ayn Rand book We the Living
Source: We the Living
“Maybe you’re not willing to give up a lover who’s colder than you are.”
Laurell K. Hamilton book Narcissus in Chains
Source: Narcissus in Chains
“There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence.”
John Calvin (1509–1564) French Protestant reformer
“Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
“A viler evil than to murder a man, is to sell him suicide as an act of virtue.”
Ayn Rand book Atlas Shrugged
Source: Atlas Shrugged
