Leonardo da Vinci stands as a timeless testament to the boundless potential of the human spirit. Born out of wedlock in the Italian countryside, he transformed every limitation into a launchpad for his genius. More than just the painter of the world's most famous artworks, he was a relentless explorer who saw no divide between art and science. His notebooks, filled with breathtaking inventions and anatomical studies, reveal a mind forever curious. His life inspires us to pursue our passions without restraint, to question everything, and to see the interconnected beauty in the world around us. He was not just a master of his time, but a visionary for all time.
"Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?"
"Common Sense is that which judges the things given to it by other senses."
"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."
"Although nature commences with reason and ends in experience it is necessary for us to do the opposite, that is to commence with experience and from this to proceed to investigate the reason."
"As every divided kingdom falls, so every mind divided between many studies confounds and saps itself."
"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."
"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
"Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous."
"Experience does not err. Only your judgments err by expecting from her what is not in her power."
"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory."