---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Are not gross bodies and light…"
description: "\"Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one another; and may not bodies receive much of their activity from the particles of light which enter ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/isaac-newton-1226_activity_are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertib_1933879.jpg"
---

#  Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one…

![“Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one another; and may not bodies receive much of their activity from the particles of light which enter into their composition? The changing of bodies into light, and light into bodies, is very conformable to the course of Nature, which seems…” quote by Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/isaac-newton-1226_activity_are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertib_1933879.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/isaac-newton-1226_activity_are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertib_1933879.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/isaac-newton-1226_activity_are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertib_1933879.jpg)

> “Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one another; and may not bodies receive much of their activity from the particles of light which enter into their composition? The changing of bodies into light, and light into bodies, is very conformable to the course of Nature, which seems delighted with transmutations.”

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Newton speculates that matter and light can transform into each other, suggesting nature favors such transmutations.

**In simple terms:** Matter and light might change forms, fitting nature’s patterns.

Key Takeaway

Explore the fluidity of physical forms.

Themes

science philosophy transmutation nature

Mood

inquisitive speculative

Type

scientific philosophical

When to use this quote

- experimental physics
- theoretical debates
- educational lectures

Key Concepts

alchemy particle theory energy conversion

Questions to Reflect On

- Can modern science reconcile these ideas?
- What limits exist in current theories?

A Different Perspective

Modern physics disproves literal transmutation of matter and light.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Bodies Conformable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodies-conformable-3042792/) [Bodies Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bodies-light-1690433/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Changing Bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/changing-bodies-3042791/) [Composition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composition/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Delighted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delighted/) [Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gross/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Light Bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light-bodies-913144/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Particles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/particles/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Transmutation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transmutation/) [Transmutations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transmutations-3042793/)

## Related quotes

> [The changing of Bodies into Light, and Light into Bodies, is very conformable to the Course of Nature, which seems delighted with Transmutations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/the-changing-of-bodies-into-light-and-light-into-bodies-is-very/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [“The changing of bodies into light, and light into bodies, is very conformable to the course of Nature, which seems delighted with transmutations.” —Isaac…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-krig/the-changing-of-bodies-into-light-and-light-into-bodies-is-very-2/)

[Scott Krig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-krig/)

> [Do not Bodies and Light act mutually upon one another; that is to say, Bodies upon Light in emitting, reflecting, refracting and inflecting it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/do-not-bodies-and-light-act-mutually-upon-one-another-that-is-to-say/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [Reincarnation is a process in which a finite being will go through a series of transmutations and will perceive different things. There will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/reincarnation-is-a-process-in-which-a-finite-being-will-go-through-a/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

> [Nothing which consists of corporeal matter is absolutely light, but that is comparatively lighter which is rarer, either by its own nature, or by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/nothing-which-consists-of-corporeal-matter-is-absolutely-light-but/)

[Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/)

> [Somewhere in the back of my brain there exists this certainty: The body is no more than a costume, and can be changed at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/somewhere-in-the-back-of-my-brain-there-exists-this-certainty-the/)

[Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/)

> [Bodies have their own light which they consume to live: they burn, they are not lit from the outside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egon-schiele/bodies-have-their-own-light-which-they-consume-to-live-they-burn-they/)

[Egon Schiele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egon-schiele/)

> [What is seen now so much more clearly is that although the names keep changing and the bodies keep changing, the larger pattern that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-is-seen-now-so-much-more-clearly-is-that-although-the-names-keep/)

[Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/)

> [“All it takes is the practice of opening up your bodies to the light.7”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-vickers/all-it-takes-is-the-practice-of-opening-up-your-bodies-to-the-light-7/)

[Lee Vickers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-vickers/)

> [If Nature denies eternity to beings, it follows that their destruction is one of her laws. Now, once we observe that destruction is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/if-nature-denies-eternity-to-beings-it-follows-that-their-destruction/)

[Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/)

> [When you work with people who misunderstand you, instead of getting transmissions, you get transmutations, and that's much more interesting in the long run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/when-you-work-with-people-who-misunderstand-you-instead-of-getting/)

[Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/)

> [Labor is the true alchemist that beats out in patient transmutation the baser metals into gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-morley-punshon/labor-is-the-true-alchemist-that-beats-out-in-patient-transmutation/)

[William Morley Punshon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-morley-punshon/)

> [Fiction, I believed, was the transmutation of experiential dross into linguistic gold. Fiction meant taking up whatever the world had abandoned by the road…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/fiction-i-believed-was-the-transmutation-of-experiential-dross-into/)

[Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/)

> [The Russell Cosmogony with its new concepts of light, matter, energy, electricity and magnetism is a simple yet complete, consistent and workable cosmogony which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/the-russell-cosmogony-with-its-new-concepts-of-light-matter-energy/)

[Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/)

> [Brahmacharya is not against sex. If it is against sex then sex can never disappear. Brahmacharya is a transmutation of the energy: it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/brahmacharya-is-not-against-sex-if-it-is-against-sex-then-sex-can/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

## More by Isaac Newton

> [The same law takes place in a system, consisting of many bodies, as in one single body, with regard to their persevering in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/the-same-law-takes-place-in-a-system-consisting-of-many-bodies-as-in/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [I have been much amused at ye singular phenomena resulting from bringing of a needle into contact with a piece of amber or resin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-have-been-much-amused-at-ye-singular-phenomena-resulting-from/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/no-great-discovery-was-ever-made-without-a-bold-guess/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-keep-the-subject-of-my-inquiry-constantly-before-me-and-wait-till/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [Philosophy is such an impertinently litigious lady that a man had as good be engaged in lawsuits as have to do with her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/philosophy-is-such-an-impertinently-litigious-lady-that-a-man-had-as/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [Do not Bodies act upon Light at a distance, and by their action bend its Rays; and is not this action (caeteris paribus) \[all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/do-not-bodies-act-upon-light-at-a-distance-and-by-their-action-bend/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [God in the beginning formed matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/god-in-the-beginning-formed-matter-in-solid-massy-hard-impenetrable/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [ I am ashamed to tell you to how many figures I carried these calculations \[of Pi\], having no other business at the time ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-am-ashamed-to-tell-you-to-how-many-figures-i-carried-these/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [Hypotheses non fingo. I frame no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/hypotheses-non-fingo-i-frame-no-hypotheses/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [The Ignis Fatuus is a vapor shining without heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/the-ignis-fatuus-is-a-vapor-shining-without-heat/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [Blind metaphysical necessity, which is certainly the same always and every where, could produce no variety of things. All that diversity of natural things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/blind-metaphysical-necessity-which-is-certainly-the-same-always-and/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [You sometimes speak of gravity as essential and inherent to matter. Pray do not ascribe that notion to me, for the cause of gravity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/you-sometimes-speak-of-gravity-as-essential-and-inherent-to-matter/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/there-are-more-sure-marks-of-authenticity-in-the-bible-than-in-any/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [Therefore to the same natural effects we must, as far as possible, assign the same causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/therefore-to-the-same-natural-effects-we-must-as-far-as-possible/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

> [In scripture we are told of some trusting in God and others trusting in idols, and that God is our refuge, our strength, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/in-scripture-we-are-told-of-some-trusting-in-god-and-others-trusting/)

[Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

[Explore all 266 Isaac Newton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/)

## More Activity quotes

> [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/)

[Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/)

> [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/)

[Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/)

> [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/)

[Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/)

> [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/)

[Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/)

> [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/)

[Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/)

> [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/)

[Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/)

> [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/)

[Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/)

> [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/)

[Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/)

> [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/)

[Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/)

> [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/)

[Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/)

> [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/)

[Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/)

> [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/)

[Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/)

> [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/)

[Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/)

> [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/)

[Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/)

> [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/)

[Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/)

[Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one another; and may not bodies receive much of their activity from the particles of light which enter into their composition? The changing of bodies into light, and light into bodies, is very conformable to the course of Nature, which seems delighted with transmutations.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Isaac Newton"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertible-into-one-another-and-may/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Activity"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertible-into-one-another-and-may/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/isaac-newton-1226_activity_are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertib_1933879.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/isaac-newton-1226_activity_are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertib_1933879.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/isaac-newton-1226_activity_are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertib_1933879.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one another; and may not bodies receive much of their…” — Isaac Newton",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Isaac Newton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Are not gross bodies and light...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertible-into-one-another-and-may/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/are-not-gross-bodies-and-light-convertible-into-one-another-and-may/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
