Skip to content

Oh! marvellous, O stupendous Necessity — by thy laws thou dost compel every effect to be the direct result of its cause, by the shortest path. These are miracles...

— Leonardo da Vinci

Another quote →

Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Vol. I, as translated by Jean Paul Richter (1888)
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Leonardo da Vinci

The eye — which sees all objects reversed — retains the images for some time.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

Fire is to represent truth because it destroys all sophistry and lies; and the mask is for lying and falsehood which conceal truth.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

The boundaries of bodies are the least of all things.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

A picture or representation of human figures, ought to be done in such a way as that the spectator may easily recognise, by means of their attitudes, the purpose in their minds.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

Let no man who is not a Mathematician read the elements of my work.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

It is easier to contend with evil at the first than at the last.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

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

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

Men will seem to see new destructions in the sky.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

All Leonardo da Vinci quotes →

More quotes by Leonardo da Vinci

Things that are separate shall be united and acquire such virtue that they will restore to man his lost memory.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

Of the horse I will say nothing because I know the times.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

Science is the observation of things possible, whether present or past; prescience is the knowledge of things which may come to pass, though but slowly.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

Drawing is based upon perspective, which is nothing else than a thorough knowledge of the function of the eye.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

Animals will be seen on the earth who will always be fighting against each other with the greatest loss and frequent deaths on each side.

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883)

All Leonardo da Vinci quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Leonardo da Vinci (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.