standing on the shoulders of giants
STAND-ing on the SHOHL-derz uv JY-ants
ˈstændɪŋ ɒn ðə ˈʃoʊldərz əv ˈdʒaɪəntsListen
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Dictionary meaning
achieving understanding or progress by building upon the foundational knowledge, discoveries, and insights of those who came before; acknowledging that one's own accomplishments are only possible because of the work of predecessors; most famously expressed by Isaac Newton who wrote in a 1675 letter that if he had seen further it was by standing on the shoulders of giants, though the image predates Newton by centuries to Bernard of Chartres in the twelfth century
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