"Although human ingenuity may devise various inventions..." - Quote by Leonardo Da Vinci
Although human ingenuity may devise various inventions which, by the help of various instruments, answer to one and the same purpose, yet will it never discover any inventions more beautiful, more simple or more practical than those of nature, because in her inventions there is nothing lacking and nothing superfluous; and she makes use of no counterpoise when she constructs the limbs of animals in such a way as to correspond to the motion of their bodies, but she puts into them the soul of the body.
More by Leonardo Da Vinci
“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.”
“In the days of thy youth seek to obtain that which shall compensate the losses of thy old age.”
“Every obstacle yields to stern resolve.”
More on Nature
“The tragic side of many architectural enterprises is that they destroy natural beauties which are a priceless possession and cannot be replaced.”
“In part, art completes what nature cannot elaborate; and in part it imitates nature.”
“And there my little doves did sit With feathers softly brown And glittering eyes that showed their right To general Nature's deep delight.”
More on Invention
“I invented nothing new, I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom there was centuries of work.”
“Invention breeds invention. No sooner is the electric telegraph devised than gutta-percha, the very material it requires, is found. The aeronaut is provided with gun-cotton, the very fuel he wants for his balloon.”
“It is only the unimaginative who ever invents. The true artist is known by the use he makes of what he annexes.”