Leonardo da Vinci Quotes

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

“The knowledge of the past times and of the places of the earth is both an ornament and nutriment to the human mind.”

“Not to appreciate life, all of life, is not to deserve it.”

“Virtue is our true wealth and the true reward of its possessor; it cannot be lost, it never deserts us until life leaves us.”

“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”

“For those colours which you wish to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white ground.”

“For youth, everything is sport.”

“The painter who draws by practise and judgment of the eye without the use of reason is like the mirror which reproduces within itself all the objects which are set opposite to it without knowledge of the same.”

“We ought not to desire the impossible.”

“People talk to people who perceive nothing, who have open eyes and see nothing; they shall talk to them and receive no answer; they shall adore those who have ears and hear nothing; they shall burn lamps for those who do not see.”

“I am never weary of being useful... In serving others I cannot do enough. No labor is sufficient to tire me.”

“Wood feeds the fire which burns it.”

“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.”

“Why seek to embarrass [the artist] with vanities foreign to his quietness? Know you not that certain sciences require the whole man, leaving no part of him at leisure for your trifles?”

“To speak ill of a good person is not truly good, all in all.”

“Nature alone is the master of true genius.”

“The greatest geniuses sometimes accomplish more when they work less.”

“The lie is so vile, that even if it were in speaking well of godly things, it would take off something from God's grace; and Truth is so excellent, that if it praises but small things they become noble.”

“Each man is always in the middle of the surface of the earth and under the zenith of his own hemisphere, and over the centre of the earth.”

“A man of supreme folly: his life flies away while he is merely hoping to enjoy it.”

“He who draws... ought to take his position so that the eye of the figure he is drawing is on a level with his own... because, generally, figures or people whom you meet in the streets all have their eyes at the same level as yours, and if you make them higher or lower you will find that your portrait will not resemble them.”

“An artist's studio should be a small space because small rooms discipline the mind and large ones distract it.”

“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.”

“Happy will they be who lend ear to the words of the dead.”

“If you are alone you belong entirely to yourself.”