[kromem]

Very sad.

There have been a great many minds that have tortured themselves over pondering the things we don't even blink an eye at today.

We admire and idolize those who found the pretty pebbles that light up the shore today, and yet I'm sure many of them would have eagerly traded places just to see what continued to take shape.

It's sad, though also a reminder of just how much is easily taken for granted.

[smeej]

To me it sounds more like standing in wonder at how vastly much more he could never have lived long enough to understand. It doesn't strike me as sad, but humble, and appropriately so.

[kwhitefoot]

Newton, humble?

That business about pebbles is Newton showing off. Calculus is Latin for small pebble.

[svat]

Newton may have been rough/arrogant with other people, but this is entirely consistent with being humble in the face of the mysteries of the universe etc — there is nothing in his biography to suggest otherwise.

In fact, you can see hints of it even in this quote: “I don’t know what I may seem to the world” — suggests that he thinks of himself in an exalted position wrt the world (= other people, in this context), but a little boy wrt Nature. Something like: I am a little boy collecting pebbles on the shore, while everyone else is a senseless baby not even close to the ocean.

[smeej]

Even titans become humble facing death.

[kwhitefoot]

Really? How would you know?

[more_corn]

This is not sad at all. The sense of childlike wonder and intellectual humility were essential to the great minds of history. If you feel like you’re getting a handle on things remember this quote and who said it. It is as true today as it was then and we could all benefit by remembering it.