Sir Isaac Newton was asked how he discovered the law of gravity. He replied, "By thinking about it all the time.
Interpretation
Constant contemplation leads to great discoveries.
This quote from Sir Isaac Newton emphasizes the importance of persistent thinking and reflection in the process of discovery and understanding. Newton implies that great insights, such as the law of gravity, are not the result of sudden revelations but rather come from dedicated consideration and contemplation of ideas over time.
In practice
A scientist sharing their research process during a lecture.
The best and safest way of philosophising seems to be, first to enquire diligently into the properties of things, and to establish those properties by experiences [experiments] and then to proceed slowly to hypotheses for the explanation of them. For hypotheses should be employed only in explaining the properties of things, but not assumed in determining them; unless so far as they may furnish experiments.
Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.
His epitaph: Who, by vigor of mind almost divine, the motions and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, and the tides of the seas first demonstrated.
And from true lordship it follows that the true God is living, intelligent, and powerful; from the other perfections, that he is supreme, or supremely perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, he endures from eternity to eternity; and he is present from infinity to infinity; he rules all things, and he knows all things that happen or can happen.
My Design in this Book is not to explain the Properties of Light by Hypotheses, but to propose and prove them by Reason and Experiments: In order to which, I shall premise the following Definitions and Axioms.
It is the weight, not numbers of experiments that is to be regarded.
Moderation is the inseparable companion of wisdom, but with it genius has not even a nodding acquaintance.
Keep a little space in your heart for the improbable. You won't regret it.
It's pretty unhealthy to obsess over what people think about you.
Creditors have better memories than debtors.
The first beneficiary of compassion is always oneself. When compassion, or warmheartedness, arises in us and our focus shifts away from our own narrow self-interest, it is as if we open an inner door. It reduces fear, boosts confidence and brings us inner strength. By reducing distrust, it opens us to others and brings us a sense of connection to others, and sense of purpose and meaning in life.
What other people do shouldn't affect you - we do things because of the kind of person we each want to be
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