Leonardo da Vinci Quotes

Good writing comes from good talent.

When the sun is covered by clouds, objects are less conspicuous, because there is little difference between the light and shade of the trees and the buildings being illuminated by the brightness of the atmosphere which surrounds the objects in such a way that the shadows are few, and these few fade away so that their outline is lost in haze.

When counting, try not to mix chickens with blessings.

The length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height.

A good painter is to paint two main things, men and the working of man's mind.

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

Perspective is a most subtle discovery in mathematical studies, for by means of lines it causes to appear distant that which is near, and large that which is small.

The lover is moved by the beloved object as the senses are by sensual objects; and they unite and become one and the same thing. The work is the first thing born of this union; if the thing loved is base the lover becomes base.

Inequality is the cause of all local movements.

Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?

Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest.

The water which rises in the mountains is the blood which keeps the mountain in life.

Those who become enamoured of the art, without having previously applied to the diligent study of the scientific part of it, may be compared to mariners who put to the sea in a ship without rudder or compass and therefore cannot be certain of arriving at the wished for port.

To speak well of a base man is much the same as speaking ill of a good man.

The motions of men must be such as suggest their dignity or their baseness.

Mechanics is the paradise of the mathematical sciences because by means of it one comes to the fruits of mathematics.

First study the science, and then practice the art which is born of that science.

The merit of painting lies in the exactness of reproduction. Painting is a science and all sciences are based on mathematics. No human inquiry can be a science unless it pursues its path through mathematical exposition and demonstration.

The faculty of imagination is both the rudder and the bridle of the senses.

What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art

Men of genius sometimes accomplish most when they work least, for they are thinking out inventions.

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

We might say that the earth has the spirit of growth; that its flesh is the soil.

Just as courage is the danger of life, so is fear its safeguard.

The eye is the window of the human body through which it feels its way and enjoys the beauty of the world.

Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer.

A day will come in which men will look upon an animal's murder the same way they look today upon a man's murder.

Here is a thing which the more it is needed the more it is rejected: and this is advice, which is unwillingly heeded by those who most need it, that is to say, by the ignorant.

I say that the power of vision extends through the visual rays to the surface of non-transparent bodies, while the power possessed by these bodies extends to the power of vision.

I shall do down in history as the man who opened a door!

The limiting surface of one thing is the beginning of another.

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

The fox when it sees a flock of herons or magpies or birds of that kind, suddenly flings himself on the ground with his mouth open to look as he were dead; and these birds want to peck at his tongue, and he bites off their heads.

You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself.

Truth at last cannot be hidden. Dissimulation is of no avail. Dissimulation is to no purpose before so great a judge. Falsehood puts on a mask. Nothing is hidden under the sun.

Instrumental or mechanical science is the noblest and above all others, the most useful.

Water is the driving force of all nature.

The first of all simple colours is White ... We shall set down White for the representative of light, without which no colour can be seen; Yellow for the earth; Green for water; Blue for air; Red for fire; and Black for total darkness.

The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.

Threats alone, are the weapons of the threatened man.

O Time with your teethy years! You swallow up all things little by little in a slow-motion, wrinkling process of dying.

I am not to blame for putting forward, in the course of my work on science, any general rule derived from a previous conclusion.

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

Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master.

Common Sense is that which judges the things given to it by other senses.

Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.

We may call painting the grandchild of nature.

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