--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hypotheses should be subservient only in…" description: "\"Hypotheses should be subservient only in explaining the properties of things but not assumed in determining them, unless so far as they may furnish exp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/isaac-newton-1226_far_hypotheses-should-be-subservient-only-in_3222556.jpg" --- # Hypotheses should be subservient only in explaining the… ![“Hypotheses should be subservient only in explaining the properties of things but not assumed in determining them, unless so far as they may furnish experiments.” quote by Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/isaac-newton-1226_far_hypotheses-should-be-subservient-only-in_3222556.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/isaac-newton-1226_far_hypotheses-should-be-subservient-only-in_3222556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/isaac-newton-1226_far_hypotheses-should-be-subservient-only-in_3222556.jpg) > “Hypotheses should be subservient only in explaining the properties of things but not assumed in determining them, unless so far as they may furnish experiments.” [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. Hypotheses guide explanation of observed properties but should not dictate those properties unless they enable experimental testing. **In simple terms:** Hypotheses explain, not decide, unless they help experiments. Key Takeaway Use hypotheses to predict, not prescribe. Themes science methodology philosophy of science Mood analytical inquisitive Type epistemological instructional When to use this quote - designing experiments - forming scientific models - educational curricula - research proposals Key Concepts empiricism falsifiability theory testing Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure a hypothesis remains a tool, not a rule? - When should a hypothesis be abandoned? A Different Perspective Hypotheses can become entrenched, limiting creative alternatives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumed Determining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumed-determining-6064725/) [Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far/) [Furnish Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furnish-experiments-6064724/) [Hypotheses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypotheses/) [Hypotheses Subservient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypotheses-subservient-6064722/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Subservient Explaining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subservient-explaining-6064723/) [Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things/) ## Related quotes > [In experimental philosophy, we are to look upon propositions inferred by general induction from phenomena as accurately or very nearly true, notwithstanding any contrary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/in-experimental-philosophy-we-are-to-look-upon-propositions-inferred-2/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Are not all Hypotheses erroneous, in which Light is supposed to consist in Pression or Motion, propagated through a fluid Medium? For in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/are-not-all-hypotheses-erroneous-in-which-light-is-supposed-to/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [I have not been able to discover the cause of those properties of gravity from phenomena, and I frame no hypotheses; for whatever is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-have-not-been-able-to-discover-the-cause-of-those-properties-of/) [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/) > [I do not feign hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-do-not-feign-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [My Design in this Book is not to explain the Properties of Light by Hypotheses, but to propose and prove them by Reason and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/my-design-in-this-book-is-not-to-explain-the-properties-of-light-by/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [As in Mathematicks, so in Natural Philosophy, the Investigation of difficult Things by the Method of Analysis, ought ever to precede the Method of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/as-in-mathematicks-so-in-natural-philosophy-the-investigation-of/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [I feign no hypotheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-feign-no-hypotheses/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Hypotheses are the scaffolds which are erected in front of a building and removedd when the building is completed. They are indispensable to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/hypotheses-are-the-scaffolds-which-are-erected-in-front-of-a-building/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Philosophy, like science, is only a collection of hypotheses, introduced for the usefulness of the ensemble, or for economy of thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/philosophy-like-science-is-only-a-collection-of-hypotheses-introduced/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [To rewrite history on the bases of hypotheses which have not materialized is not only a fruitless task, but, in my eyes, meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-monnet/to-rewrite-history-on-the-bases-of-hypotheses-which-have-not/) [Jean Monnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-monnet/) > [We are sorry to confess that biological hypotheses have not yet completely got out of the second phase, and that ghost of ‘vital force’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-buchner/we-are-sorry-to-confess-that-biological-hypotheses-have-not-yet/) [Ludwig Buchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-buchner/) > [In science, each new result, sometimes quite surprising, heralds a step forward and allows one to discard some hypotheses, even though one or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-b-prusiner/in-science-each-new-result-sometimes-quite-surprising-heralds-a-step/) [Stanley B. Prusiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-b-prusiner/) > [Whether statistics be an art or a science... or a scientific art, we concern ourselves little. It is the basis of social and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolphe-quetelet/whether-statistics-be-an-art-or-a-science-or-a-scientific-art-we/) [Adolphe Quetelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolphe-quetelet/) > [The rules and principles of case law have never been treated as final truths but as working hypotheses, continually retested in those great laboratories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-n-cardozo/the-rules-and-principles-of-case-law-have-never-been-treated-as-final/) [Benjamin N. Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/) ## 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 Far quotes > [I write about presidents. 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He said you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovince-saint-preux/talking-to-my-trainer-eric-turner-like-my-second-or-third-amateur/) [Ovince Saint Preux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovince-saint-preux/) > [Maybe there's some kind of modeling that can be tedious, like catalogue modeling, but there's a kind of modeling, with runways or working with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/maybe-there-s-some-kind-of-modeling-that-can-be-tedious-like/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [I have two or three shows that I follow, and even those are few and far, when I can see them on Netflix. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ritchson/i-have-two-or-three-shows-that-i-follow-and-even-those-are-few-and/) [Alan Ritchson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ritchson/) > [I've never been far from the river. 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