[gruseom]

The first quote is proverbial, and Newton certainly said it, but the phrase dates from the 12th century (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_gi...) and is not part of Enlightenment tradition. Quite the opposite, in fact: it comes from the medieval tradition of abasing yourself before the ancients. So no, it doesn't resemble the disputed quote at all.

The second is not familiar to me, but it is 17th century language and does sound like something Newton would say. But it's irrelevant here. He's talking about nature, not himself.

The third is much closer to the disputed quote. But I don't believe Newton said this either. You know who said things like that? Horatio Alger. So let's see a textual source in Newton's works before accepting it as evidence.

Here's a helpful trick. When you Google a quote and the first page consists entirely of junk like this:

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=h...

... that's a sign that the quote is bogus.

[ajax77]

I looked for the "sign that the quote is bogus" but missed it. Maybe results that have 5 million hits are bogus? Maybe results that have relevant links are bogus? I can enter all sorts of valid quotes from both current and historic figures into Google, and obtain very similar results. ("Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You", "A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be", "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.") I fail to see how that adds anything to the discussion. Neither do I see how the fact that Newton restated, rather than originated, a particular idea, helps your argument.

Also, please inform me as to how this statement relates to Lord Byron. Nothing I've read of Byron would favor him as the statement's originator over Newton. I can't help but think of this scene from Good Will Hunting when I read your replies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymsHLkB8u3s&t=1m56s

[gruseom]

Hey, this isn't a competition. We're just talking about an interesting historical question.

Maybe one point deserves clarification.

When you Google an authentic quote by a very famous person, a precise textual citation is usually locatable through one of the top results (or something it links to). Therefore, when you Google a quote by a very famous person and nothing but quotespam sites come up, the quote is probably bogus.

I've never seen an authentic quote that fails this test. If anyone can find one -- that is, find a quote by a very famous person, the first page of Google results for which is all quotespam, but which nevertheless is an authentic quote as proven by a real textual reference -- I would like to see it.

[nl]

Searching books.google.com for the quote is very useful too.

[gruseom]

Indeed it is, especially with the inauthor tag, as in:

  inauthor:"Isaac Newton"

Google Books is an amazing resource. Would there were a way to get the full text of everything.