Most men are of naught more use in their lives but as machines for turning food into sh*t.

I say that in narrative paintings one should mingle direct contraries close by, because they produce strong contrasts with one another, and all the more so when they are very close together; that is, the ugly next to the beautiful, the big to the small, the old to the young, the strong to the weak; in this way you will vary as much as possible and close by.

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

Not to anticipate is already to moan.

Whoever does not respect life, does not deserve it.

As regards this vice, we read that the peacock is more guilty of it than any other animal. For it is always contemplating the beauty of its tail, which it spreads in the form of a wheel, and by its cries attracts to itself the gaze of the creatures that surround it. And this is the last vice to be conquered.

Avoid the precepts of those thinkers whose reasoning is not confirmed by experience.