Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

...many in the past have attributed success to 'standing on the shoulders of giants'. Although this metaphor can be traced back to Bernard of Chartres, the twelfth-century French philosopher, it is Newton who made it a household metaphor with his 'if I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants'. However, as John of Salisbury noted in his Metalogicon (1159), Bernard of Chartres' use of the metaphor is fascinating and insightful - 'Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.' Therefore, according to Bernard of Chartres, the secret of success begins with (a) realizing that one is a dwarf, a dwarf without any 'sharpness of sight' or even 'physical distinction', something that some of us would rather die than admit. (b) Secondly, to know that success comes only in following after giants. This requires one to bend one's knee to climb the giant even as one submits oneself and be dependent on them. (c) But if we allow ourselves to realize our dwarf stature and diligently follow after the giants, Bernard of Chartres argues that we will 'see more than they and things at a greater distance', in other words we will become more successful than even the giants on whose shoulders we stand. Following Bernard of Chartres, Newton became both successful and a household name; maybe we too should and by that could and would...