Isaac Newton was a famous English physicist, theologian and inventor born in 1642 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England . Also considered an alchemist, one could say that this thinker is the father of physics as we know it today.

Newton’s thoughts and laws were a scientific revolution for the time, and his discoveries are studied even today. Due to the great merits that this scientist achieved during his long career, he was knighted in 1708 by Queen Anne herself, thus receiving the title of Sir Isaac Newton.

  • We recommend you read: “125 sentences by Albert Einstein on science and life”

Phrases and reflections of Isaac Newton

Would you like to go deeper into the mind of this famous mathematician? Below we have the pleasure of showing you the 85 most famous phrases of Isaac Newton , with which you can learn a little more about his thoughts and personality.

1. For every action there is always an equal reaction.

This is one of the first laws of elementary physics.

2. Gravity explains the movements of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion.

What created the movement of the planets? Newton predates the big bang theory, a theory that might explain this phenomenon.

3. I can calculate the movement of celestial bodies, but not the madness of people.

People can do the most unlikely things we can imagine.

4. You have to make the rules, not follow them.

Just because there’s a rule, doesn’t mean we can’t transgress it.

5. Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is not foolish.

Simple things can also be the most useful and effective.

6. It is the weight, not the number of experiments that must be considered.

A successful experiment is worth a hundred percent not successful, working hard does not necessarily mean success.

7. Live your life as an exclamation point instead of an explanation.

We must live our life to the fullest, take advantage of every second of it.

8. Every force exerted on a body is directly proportional to the acceleration it will experience.

This law of physics should be known by everyone, as it is one of its greatest pillars.

9. To explain all of nature, neither a man nor a whole age is enough. Instead, the best thing is for man to seek a little truth and certainty, leaving the rest to others, to those who will come, with conjecture and without taking anything for granted.

Only the truth is true and finding it can be very difficult. Hypotheses can be mere conjecture.

10. Nature is truly coherent and comfortable with itself.

Nature can teach us many things with its wisdom, we must know how to appreciate it.

11. Unity in variety, and variety in unity, is the supreme law of the universe.

We are all unique and at the same time the same as other people, everything depends on the prism from which we observe.

12. For me there has never been a greater source of earthly honour than the distinction connected with advances in science.

To be able to use your intelligence and work for the sake of science, was something I saw as a privilege this, scholar.

13. He who no one likes, no one usually likes.

Our attitude often determines our role in society.

14. There is no philosophy more sublime than that known by the name of holy scripture.

Newton was a devout Christian, he knew how to perfectly combine his scientific studies with the study of the Bible.

15. Those who undertake to seek the philosopher’s stone by its very rules will be obliged to a strict and religious life.

As the alchemist that Newton also became, he pursued the idea of creating the famous philosopher’s stone.

16. The more time and dedication one spends in the worship of false gods, the less time one has to think about the true one.

We should not devote our lives to matters that are not really worthwhile, life is too valuable.

17. There are more sure indications of validity in The Bible than in any profane history.

This scientist was a faithful follower of the holy scriptures, in the society of the time it was something that 90 percent of the people did.

18. If others thought as hard as I did, they would get similar results.

To achieve great results, great efforts must be made.

19. Hypotheses should not be considered in experimental philosophy.

Hypotheses are not true until they are proven with facts.

20. My discoveries have been possible because they have been the answer to prayers.

As a devout Christian, this scientist performed several daily prayers

21. God is everywhere, the thoughts of minds are somewhere, and all bodies occupy space.

For this scholar God always had a place for his theories, the fundamental pillars in Newton’s life were very religious.

22. You cannot exist without being related to space in some way.

The mere fact of existence forces us to relate to the rest of the matter and forces of the universe.

23. God gave the prophecies of the Old Testament, not to satisfy the curiosity of the people, but so that they could later be interpreted according to the way they were fulfilled.

In this quote we can see how this scientist valued the Old Testament as a whole prophetic book.

24. When the two forces come together, their efficiency is doubled.

If two forces act in what we call synergy, these forces gain great efficiency and power.

25. I take my telescope and observe space, which is millions of miles away.

Telescopes are wonderful tools, with which we can discover our entire Solar System.

26. This is but an insignificant imitation of a much larger system whose laws you know, and I cannot convince you that this simple toy has no designer or maker, yet you claim that the great original from which this design was taken has come into existence without a designer or maker.

In this way Newton spoke to us about the forced necessity of the existence of a God.

27. God is able to create particles of matter of different sizes and shapes, and perhaps of different densities and forces, and thus can vary the laws of nature, and make worlds of different types in different parts of the universe. I at least do not see anything contradictory in this.

Newton sought with this quote to fit the concept of God into nature itself.

28. This beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could not have been less than created by the counsel and dominion of a powerful and intelligent entity. The supreme God is an eternal, infinite, and absolutely perfect being.

Creationism defends the idea that God created the universe itself.

29. Physics, be very careful with metaphysics.

Metaphysics can accommodate certain aspects, which physics itself cannot explain.

30. God created everything by His rules, including number, weight and measure in all things.

God can be the perfect solution for everything we don’t know.

31. The best way to understand is to use good examples.

Indeed, examples are the fastest way to learning.

32. Atheism is so meaningless and hateful to humanity that it never had many teachers.

Atheism is a practice that in Newton’s time did not have many followers.

33. No older person loves math.

People who have not been able to enjoy a basic education during their youth may have some problems with mathematics.

34. I will not mix conjecture with certainty.

One thing is pure truth and another thing is what seems to be true to you.

35. I do not know what the world thinks of me, but it seems to me that I was just a child playing on the seashore, having fun, finding a smoother pebble or a more dazzling shell than usual, while the great ocean of truth was about to discover everything before me.

As a simple man, this scientist was overwhelmed by the number of discoveries to come.

36. Kepler’s laws, while not rigidly true, are close enough to the truth that they led to the discovery of the law of attraction of the bodies of the Solar System.

In this quote we see how Newton talks about Kepler, a famous German astronomer who will soon be honoured by naming the most powerful telescope in history after him.

37. Everything that goes up, always has to come down.

An elementary law of physics that we all know perfectly.

38. It is enough for me to examine a blade of grass, or a handful of earth, to confirm the existence of God.

For the most devout believers, God is reflected in absolutely all of his creation.

39. If I had waited for other people to do my tools and things, I would never have done anything.

If we want things done right, we must do them ourselves.

40. If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been because of my patient care, more than any other talent.

Hard work and our dedication will be the most decisive factors that will allow us to achieve success.

41. In the absence of other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of the existence of God.

According to the Bible, man was created in the image and likeness of God. With what we really are his living reflection.

42. No great discovery was ever made without bold conjecture.

Every important discovery comes to solve an equally relevant question.

43. Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is the truth.

This scientist skillfully used the knowledge of many wise men who lived before him.

44. Sir Isaac Newton was questioned about how he discovered gravity. He answered: by thinking, thinking about it all the time.

Thanks to the time he devoted to his studies, he was able to reach so many conclusions.

45. A man can imagine things that are false, but he can only understand things that are true.

Our thoughts may often not be completely true, only the facts are true.

46. If I have given the public any service, it is because of my patient thought.

With patience and dedication we will achieve our goals.

47. The mistakes are not in the art, but in the craftsmen.

Those who create art are the ones who make mistakes, there can be no mistakes in art itself.

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

How we explain ourselves can get us into more than one problem, we must be tactful.

49. If I have seen further than others, it is because I was on the shoulders of giants.

Thanks to the knowledge of other skilful scientists, this physicist was able to discourse his famous laws.

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

We must know how to understand each other and be able to achieve greater consensus; all of humanity must always row in the same direction.

51. What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.

We always have new discoveries to make, the evolution of science can be for the human being a practically endless path.

52. Reaching the simplest truth requires years of contemplation.

Even the simplest discoveries need to be fully understood and studied.

53. If I am anything, which I doubt very much, it has been with great effort.

Effort is the currency with which we pay for our successes.

54. The truth is always found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.

When we discover a hard truth, it will always be simple and concise.

55. My skills are ordinary. Only my dedication provides me with success.

Thanks to his personal dedication, Newton managed to become a master in his field.

56. If you can keep reason over passion, that and vigilance will be your best defenders.

Keeping our reason fresh and being persistent in our work will give us the opportunity to make new discoveries.

57. Truth is the offspring of silence and meditation.

In order to be more effective we must be completely focused, to achieve this, meditation can be fundamental.

58. Nature does nothing in vain, when it will at least serve.

Nature, as this scientist says, never acts in vain, its creations always have a practical reason.

59. Each particle of matter is attracted by or gravitates towards any other particle of matter with a force inversely proportional to the squares of its distances.

In this quote we can see how Newton, tries to explain to us what basically the force of gravity consists of.

60. Modern authors, like the most ancient, endeavoured to subordinate the phenomena of nature to the laws of mathematics.

Scientists have always tried to find a mathematical background in nature itself, but it is through physics that we can begin to understand how mathematics relates to everything around us.

61. Let me think… I wonder if an anvil will fall like an apple.

The mass of an object dictates how it will be affected by the force of gravity.

62. The best and surest way of philosophizing seems to be, first, to diligently inquire into the properties of things, and to establish those properties by means of experiences (experiments) and then to proceed slowly to the hypotheses for the explanation of these.

We must carry out our hypotheses very carefully, these are still mere conjectures.

63. If two angels were sent from heaven, one to lead an empire, and the other to sweep the streets, they would feel no need to change jobs because an angel would know that no matter what we do, it is an opportunity to bring joy, deepen our understanding, and expand our life.

We must learn to be happy with our lives and to be thankful for what we have.

64. A moving body tends to keep moving unless an external force acts on it.

Indeed in space a body does not stop until somehow something interacts with its trajectory.

65. Acquired strength is the action exerted on a body to change its state of rest or of uniformly upright movement.

When we are imprinted with a force we are irremediably pushed or pulled by that impulse.

66. Absolute time, true and mathematical, in itself and by its very nature, flows uniformly without relation to anything external.

It is believed that time is the only real unit of measurement, since it is invariable from the beginning.

67. As I see it, there is nothing desirable in public esteem or fame, if I were able to acquire and maintain it.

Fame may at first not bring any negative aspects to our lives.

68. Perhaps it would be to increase my relationship with which I would decline my ability to study.

Being too idle may cause us not to study hard enough, Newton was a somewhat reserved man during his life.

69. Where does all this order and all the beauty we see in the world come from?

The world is a wonderful place where we still have much to discover.

70. I have not been able to discover the cause of these properties of gravity from phenomena, and I do not put forward hypotheses.

This scientist was very wary of making a hypothesis, because he knew that it did not have to be true.

71. Passion for calculus can open up new worlds.

Mathematics can allow us to see the world around us in a very different way.

72. The laws of movement that are at the origin of the law of gravitation are inertia, force, action and reaction.

In this quote Newton explains to us what the laws of motion are, these laws explain to us how objects in the universe interact.

73. Light is made up of particles, and the path in which it propagates is a straight line.

To be able to understand how light was formed at that time was almost miraculous.

74. White light is actually the conjunction of a band of colors.

Probably seeing some rainbow Newton, he realized that light is made up of a lot of colors.

75. I think the more I study science, the more I believe in God.

The life of this scientist was made up of these two great pillars: science and religion.

76. It seems probable to me that God created matter in the form of moving, impenetrable, hard, solid particles so strong that they never wear out or break into pieces.

God was, according to all religious people, the only creator of all matter in the universe.

77. When I look into the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the Sun to receive the right amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.

The earth is in what is called the Goldilocks Belt, within that belt a planet is at the right distance from the sun in order to harbor life.

78. The law states that the gravitational force between two bodies (for example, the Earth and the Moon) is related to the mass and distance of the bodies from each other.

As this quote so well tells us, mass and distance are the factors by which the force of gravity can interact.

79. For hypotheses must be employed only to explain the properties of things, but are not assumed in determining them; unless they can be demonstrated by experiments.

A hypothesis, to be considered true, must be supported by experiments that give it veracity.

80. Atheism is so foolish.

Newton fought all his life against this way of thinking.

81. If you are offended, it is better to pass it on in silence, or with a joke, though with some dishonour, than to try to avenge yourself.

Sometimes not showing our feelings reveals us as someone with greater self-control.

82. However, I enter my room and, through prayer, I can get closer to God and heaven than if I had all the telescopes on earth.

Science and religion are really two very different things, but for this famous scientist they both had the same value.

83. Ah…! Diamond, Diamond, you will never truly realize the evil you have done…!

Diamond was Newton’s dog, this dog during an accident burned down much of the studies of the famous English genius.

84. While the particles remain whole, they can compose bodies of the same nature and texture in all ages: but if they wear out or break into pieces, the nature of the things that depend upon them would change.

The passage of time can wreak havoc on matter, even causing it to break down.

85. In order to make way for the regular and lasting movements of the planets and comets, it is necessary to empty the heavens of all matter except perhaps a few very fine vapors, fumes, or effluviums, which arise from the atmospheres of the earth, the planets, and the comets, and from an extremely rare ethereal medium.

This is how Newton explained what outer space was to him.