Leonardo da Vinci Quotes
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The cock does not crow till it has thrice flapped its wings; the parrot in moving among boughs never puts its feet excepting where it has first put its beak. Vows are not made till Hope is dead.
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Reserve the great matters till the end, and the small matters give at the beginning.
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I have seen motions of the air so furious that they have carried, mixed up in their course, the largest trees of the forest and whole roofs of great palaces, and I have seen the same fury bore a hole with a whirling movement digging out a gravel pit, and carrying gravel, sand and water more than half a mile through the air.
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Observe the light and consider its beauty. Blink your eye and look at it. That which you see was not there at first, and that which was there is there no more.
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Just as eating against one’s will is injurious to health, so studying without a liking for it spoils the memory, and it retains nothing it takes in.1
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Fear arises sooner than anything else.
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Sculptured figures which appear in motion, will, in their standing position, actually look as if they were falling forward.
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Shadow is the diminution alike of light and of darkness, and stands between darkness and light.
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The Medici created and destroyed me.
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To manage the large mould make a model of the small mould, make a small room in proportion.
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A point is not part of a line.
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Of the horse I will say nothing because I know the times.
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The atmosphere is blue by reason of the darkness above it because black and white make blue.
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Mechanics is the paradise of the mathematical sciences because by means of it one comes to the fruits of mathematics.
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The painter strives and competes with nature.
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The wind which passes through the skins of animals will make men leap up:-That is the bagpipes, which cause men to dance.
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Ask counsel of him who rules himself well.
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The body which is nearest to the light casts the largest shadow, and why? If an object placed in front of a single light is very close to it you will see that it casts a very large shadow on the opposite wall, and the farther you remove the object from the light the smaller will the image of the shadow become.
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An infinite number of men will sell publicly and unhindered things of the very highest price, without leave from the Master of it; while it never was theirs nor in their power; and human justice will not prevent it.
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The image of the sun where it falls appears as a thing which covers the person who attempts to cover it.
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Any one who in discussion relies upon authority uses, not his understanding, but rather his memory. 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.
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That man is of supreme folly who always wants for fear of wanting; and his life flies away while he is still hoping to enjoy the good things which he has with extreme labour acquired.
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As a day well spent procures a happy sleep, so a life well employed procures a happy death.
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Disgrace should be represented upside down, because all her deeds are contrary to God and tend to hell.