QuotesCosmos
Alexander Pope, lines written for Newton's monument in Westminster Abbey, as quoted in The Epigrammatists : A Selection from the Epigrammatic Literature of Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Times (1875) by Henry Philip Dodd, p. 329; a Latin inscription was chosen instead, but this was later inscribed on a marble tablet placed in the room of the manor-house of Woolsthorpe in which Newton was born.
• Variants:
• Nature and all her works lay hid in night;
God said, Let Newton be, and all was light.
• Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said "Let Newton be" and all was light.
• O'er Nature's laws, God cast the veil of night,
Out blaz'd a Newton's soul — and all was light.
 • Variant written by Aaron Hill, preserved in Hill's Works (1753), Vol. IV, p. 92; mentioned in The Epigrammatists : A Selection from the Epigrammatic Literature of Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Times (1875) by Henry Philip Dodd, p. 329
“

Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, Let Newton be! — and all was light.

— Alexander Pope

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night: God said, Let Newton be! — and all was light." in the context of "Alexander Pope, lines written for Newton's monument in Westminster Abbey, as quoted in The Epigrammatists : A Selection from the Epigrammatic Literature of Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Times (1875) by Henry Philip Dodd, p. 329; a Latin inscription was chosen instead, but this was later inscribed on a marble tablet placed in the room of the manor-house of Woolsthorpe in which Newton was born.
• Variants:
• Nature and all her works lay hid in night;
God said, Let Newton be, and all was light.
• Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said "Let Newton be" and all was light.
• O'er Nature's laws, God cast the veil of night,
Out blaz'd a Newton's soul — and all was light.
 • Variant written by Aaron Hill, preserved in Hill's Works (1753), Vol. IV, p. 92; mentioned in The Epigrammatists : A Selection from the Epigrammatic Literature of Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Times (1875) by Henry Philip Dodd, p. 329" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Isaac Newton" (Quotes about Newton: Alphabetized by author , M–R) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Isaac Newton#natures#nature#newton#night#light#laws#lay#hid#god#let
Isaac Newton

About Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 – March 31, 1727 or in Old Style: December 25, 1642 – March 20, 1727) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists and among the most influential scientists of all time. He was a key figure in the philosophical revolution known as the Enlightenment. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), first published in 1687, established classical mechanics. Newton also made seminal contributions to optics, and shares credit with German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for developing infinitesimal calculus.