If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I would like to see if any historians would be able to provide me with an accurate version of this famous quote, since I've seen a number of different versions. The meaning behind it resonates very deeply with me, and I have been considering a tattoo with it. Naturally, I'd like that to be as accurate as possible.
Thank you!
He wrote it as "If I have seen further it is by standing on y^e shoulders of Giants.". You can see a digital scan of the letter he wrote it in (it's about 3/4 of the way down the first page), and here is a cutout of the line. In modern English, the "y^(e)" became our "the".
