Leonardo da Vinci

Polymath Artist Scientist Italian 1452 – 1519

Renaissance master of art, science, and engineering whose curiosity defined human potential.

371 quotes

"He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind."
Perseverance
"The acquisition of knowledge is never harmful if you are enthusiastic."
Education
"I love those who can smile in trouble."
Kindness
"A well-spent day brings happy sleep; work in harmony brings healthy sleep."
Work
"The heavenly bodies are made of a material which is both physical and eternal."
Science
"Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity."
Motivation
"Blinding ignorance does mislead us."
Wisdom
"When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has passed and the first of what is coming."
Time
"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind."
Perseverance
"The mind is everything."
Power
"You live and learn, at any rate you live."
Life
"Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth we shall never find it."
Truth
"The desire to know is natural to good men."
"Experience does not err. Only your judgments err by expecting from her what is not in her power."
Wisdom
"Our life is made by the death of others."
Life
"To understand the things that are laid before us is the best preparation for understanding those that are to come."
Education
"Every act you take is a vote for the kind of person you wish to become."
Motivation
"The painter who draws by practice and judgment of the eye without the use of reason is like the mirror that reproduces within itself all the objects which are set opposite to it."
Art
"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as power increases."
Freedom
"Study the science of art and the art of science."
Creativity
"All knowledge begins with wonder."
"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing; knowing is not enough, we must apply."
"The greatest geniuses sometimes accomplish more when they work less."
Work
"Patience is the passion of great souls."
Patience
"Even the most powerful wind eventually bends the mightiest tree."
Change
"Knowledge of all things is possible."
Knowledge
"The true test of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."
Imagination
"It is better to imitate a masterpiece than to invent a mediocrity."
Creativity
"Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose."
Work
"There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see."