"Every body continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, except insofar as it doesn't"

This quote by Arthur Eddington is a reference to Newton's very first law of activity, which mentions that an object will continue to be at rest or in consistent motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. Eddington's quote is an amusing way of acknowledging that Newton's law is not constantly true in the real life. Actually, objects are often acted on by external forces, such as gravity, friction, and air resistance, which cause them to differ a straight line. Eddington's quote is a reminder that Newton's laws are only estimates of reality, which there are many exemptions to them. It is also a reminder that the regulations of physics are not outright, and that they can be damaged or customized in certain circumstances.