I would like to translate "We stand upon the shoulders of giants" to Latin. I don't know how to say "shoulders", "giants", and "upon", but I do not trust Google Translate.
1 Answer
John of Salisbury 1120-1180 wrote in 'Metalogicon Bk3 ch,4 Wikiquote
Dicebat Bernardus Carnotensis nos esse quasi nanos gigantium humeris insidentes, ut possimus plura eis et remotiora videre, non utique proprii visus acumine, aut eminentia corporis, sed quia in altum subvehimur et extollimur magnitudine gigantea.
This is in indirect speech: "Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are as dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more things and more distant than they can,..." ...follow the link for a full translation.
If you want to stay close to the original you could say: "We are as dwarfs sitting upon the shoulders of giants."
quasi nani sumus gigantium humeris insidentes
Your version simply, "We stand upon the shoulders of giants,"
"Super humeris gigantium stamus."