261 quotes
The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies every thing placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
Fire may be represented as the destroyer of all sophistry, and as the image and demonstration of truth; because it is light and drives out darkness which conceals all essences [or subtle things].
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
When you wish to represent a man speaking to a number of people, consider the matter of which he has to treat and adapt his action to the subject.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
O mighty and once living instrument of formative nature. Incapable of availing thyself of thy vast strength thou hast to abandon a life of stillness and to obey the law which God and time gave to procreative nature.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
If you mean that the proximity of one color should give beauty to another that terminates near it, observe the rays of the sun in the composition of the rainbow, the colors of which are generated by the falling rain, when each drop in its descent takes every color of the bow.
Treatise on Painting (1490)
Fire destroys falsehood, that is sophistry, and restores truth, driving out darkness.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
Light is the chaser away of darkness. Shade is the obstruction of light.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
Such as harm is when it hurts me not, is good which avails me not.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
We are deceived by promises and time disappoints us...
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
We, by our arts may be called the grandsons of God.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
Every action needs to be prompted by a motive. To know and to will are two operations of the human mind. Discerning, judging, deliberating are acts of the human mind.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
To 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.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
It is bad if you praise, and worse if you reprove a thing, I mean, if you do not understand the matter well.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
As a day well spent makes sleep seem pleasant, so a life well employed makes death pleasant. A life well spent is long.
Though I may not, like them, be able to quote other authors, I shall rely on that which is much greater and more worthy — on experience, the mistress of their Masters.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
He who thinks little, errs much.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
We see the most striking example of humility in the lamb… so that very often it has been seen that the lions forbear to kill them.
It vexes me greatly that having to earn my living has forced me to interrupt the work and to attend to small matters.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)
Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)