Leonardo da Vinci's Quotes

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian polymath who lived during the Renaissance. He is best known as an artist, but he was also a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. He was trained in Florence as a painter and sculptor in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, and his curiosity and insatiable hunger for knowledge never left him.

Wikipedia Quotes

145 Quotes

"Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Who sows virtue reaps honour."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I love those who can smile in trouble..."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"If you are alone you belong entirely to yourself. If you are accompanied by even one companion you belong only half to yourself or even less in proportion to the thoughtlessness of his conduct and if you have more than one companion you will fall more deeply into the same plight."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Learning never exhausts the mind."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The knowledge of all things is possible"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind: Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses- especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The deeper the feeling, the greater the pain"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The function of muscle is to pull and not to push, except in the case of the genitals and the tongue."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"As you cannot do what you want"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"One has no right to love or hate anything if one has not acquired a thorough knowledge of its nature. Great love springs from great knowledge of the beloved object, and if you know it but little you will be able to love it only a little or not at all."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself...the height of a man's success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment. ...And this law is the expression of eternal justice. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"life without love, is no life at all"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Realize that everything connects to everything else."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"An average human looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Time stays long enough for those who use it."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Intellectual passion drives out sensuality."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Water is the driving force in nature."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"God sells us all things at the price of labor."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"All sciences are vain and full of errors that are not born of Experience, the mother of all Knowledge."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A poet knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I awoke only to find that the rest of the world was still asleep."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Our life is made by the death of others."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"once you have tasted the taste of sky, you will forever look up"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"My body will not be a tomb for other creatures."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who thinks little errs much…"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The height of a man’s success is gauged by his self-mastery and the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Never destroy others’ lives through rage or through malice."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A well-spent day brings happy sleep."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams, than the imagination awake."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Intellectual passion drives out sensuality."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The knowledge of all things is possible."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"It is an acknowledged fact that we perceive errors in the work of others more readily than in our own."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Fine gold is recognized when it is tested."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Virtue is our true wealth and the true reward of its possessor."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Being willing is not enough; we must do it."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"To become an artist you have to be curious."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A Study without desire spoils the memory."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Life without love, is no life at all."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"There is a universe in the mind and hands of the painter."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A well spent day brings happy sleep. Like that a well used life brings happy death."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who does not value life does not deserve it."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"You must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"In nature there is no effect without a cause."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A well-employed life brings a blessed death."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"All sciences are vain and full of errors that are not born from experience."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The organ of perception acts more readily than judgment."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards a ship without a rudder and compass."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The men of experiment are like the ant; they only collect and use."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who thinks little errs much."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"One has no right to love or hate anything if one has not acquired a thorough knowledge of its nature."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"If the painter wishes to see beauties that charm him, it lies in his power to create them."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The love of anything is the offspring of knowledge."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Studying without zeal damages the memory."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who wishes to be rich within a day, will be hanged within a year."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Great love born from great knowledge."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Science is the observation of things possible, whether present or past."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Wisdom is the daughter of experience."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I love those who can smile in trouble, gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Lies don’t solve problems, it just makes it worst."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The acquisition of knowledge is always of use to the intellect, because it may thus drive out useless things and retain the good."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"If there’s no love, what then?"

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Painting is mute poetry, and poetry is blind painting."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Instrumental science is the noblest and above all others."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Truth at last cannot be hidden."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Nothing should be so greatly feared as empty fame."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The mind that engages in subjects of too great variety becomes confused and weakened."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"I thought I was learning to live but I was only learning to die."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Anything that can be dreamt of will eventually be built."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Dissimulation is of no avail."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Develop your senses- especially learn how to see. And realize that everything connects to everything else."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Reprove your friend in secret and praise him in public."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The worst evil which can befall the artist is that his work should appear good in his own eyes."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Experience is a truer guide than the words of others."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Nature is the source of all true knowledge."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"We must doubt the certainty of everything which passes through the senses."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Time only stays long enough for those who use it."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"If you are alone, it means that you are completely with yourself."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Always do your work keeping your purpose in mind."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Men fight wars and destroy everything around them."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Indistinct things the mind is stimulated to new inventions."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A wave is never found alone, but is mingled with the other waves."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A small truth is better than a great lie."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"If we do not resist evil, it is equivalent to commanding it."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Nature never breaks her own laws."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"There is nothing which deceives us as much as our own judgement."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The deeper the feeling, the greater the pain."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"The instant does not have time; and time is made from the movement of the instant."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Experience is never at fault; it is only your judgment that is in error."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"If you can’t do what you want, then do what you can."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Details make perfection but the perfection is not a detail."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"He who can copy can do."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"Art is the queen of all sciences and communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world."

— Leonardo da Vinci

"A body without a shadow than virtue unaccompanied by envy."

— Leonardo da Vinci

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