My works are the issue of simple and plain experience which is the true mistress. Leonardo da Vinci More Quotes by Leonardo da Vinci More Quotes From Leonardo da Vinci If you do not rest on the good foundation of nature, you will labour with little honor and less profit. Leonardo da Vinci foundationhonorlittles Those who fall in love with practice without science are like a sailor who enters a ship without a helm or a compass, and who never can be certain whither he is going. Leonardo da Vinci shipsfalling-in-lovepractice Painting embraces and contains within itself all the things which nature produces or which results from the fortuitous actions of men... he is but a poor master who makes only a single figure well. Leonardo da Vinci paintingactionmen A wave is never found alone, but is mingled with as many other waves as there are uneven places in the object where the said wave is produced. Leonardo da Vinci passioninspirationallife I have always felt it is my destiny to build a machine that would allow man to fly. Leonardo da Vinci passioninspirationallife A luminous body will appear more brilliant in proportion as it is surrounded by deeper shadow. Leonardo da Vinci brilliantshadowbody I have solved what color is, however ; I still have no idea about what line is. Leonardo da Vinci designcolorideas Those who become enamoured of the art, without having previously applied to the diligent study of the scientific part of it, may be compared to mariners who put to the sea in a ship without rudder or compass and therefore cannot be certain of arriving at the wished for port. Leonardo da Vinci arrivingseaart If a man has a tent made of linen of which the apertures have all been stopped up, and be it twelve bracchia across (over twenty-five feet) and twelve in depth, he will be able to throw himself down from any height without sustaining injury. [His concept of the parachute.] Leonardo da Vinci twentiesfeetmen I think it is no small attraction in a painter to be able to give a pleasing air to his figures, and whoever is not naturally possessed of this grace may acquire it by study, as opportunity offers in the following manner: be on the watch to take good parts of many beautiful faces of which the beautiful parts are established by general repute rather than by your own judgement, for you may deceive yourself by selecting faces that resemble your own, since it often seems that such similarities please us; ... so therefore choose the beautiful ones as I tell you and fix them in your mind. Leonardo da Vinci opportunitybeautifulthinking The memory of benefits is a frail defence against ingratitude. Leonardo da Vinci benefitsintelligentmemories If anyone wishes to see how the soul dwells in its body, let him observe how this body uses its daily habitation; that is to say, if this is devoid of order and confused, the body will be kept in disorder and confusion by its soul. Leonardo da Vinci confusedconfusionorder The faculty of imagination is both the rudder and the bridle of the senses. Leonardo da Vinci ruddersfacultyimagination A bird maintains itself in the air by imperceptible balancing, when near to the mountains or lofty ocean crags; it does this by means of the curves of the winds which as they strike against these projections, being forced to preserve their first impetus bend their straight course towards the sky with divers revolutions, at the beginning of which the birds come to a stop with their wings open, receiving underneath themselves the continual buffetings of the reflex courses of the winds. Leonardo da Vinci oceansciencemean You grow in reputation like bread in the hands of a child. Leonardo da Vinci breadchildrenhands Good culture is born of a good disposition; and since the cause is more to be praised than the effect, I will rather praise a good disposition without culture, than good culture without the disposition. Leonardo da Vinci causespraiseculture The spirit desires to remain with its body, because, without the organic instruments of that body, it can neither act, nor feel anything. Leonardo da Vinci intelligentbodydesire Avoid studies of which the result dies with the worker. Leonardo da Vinci workersresultsstudy A bird is an instrument working according to mathematical law, which instrument it is within the capacity of man to reproduce with all its movements. Leonardo da Vinci lawbirdmen The senses are of the earth, the reason stands apart from them in contemplation. Leonardo da Vinci perceptionearthreason
