CoffeeWithTheClassics Profile picture
Apr 15 17 tweets 5 min read Read on X
On this day, April 15, 1452, Leonardo da Vinci was born.

He was a true polymathic genius, not just as an artist and inventor, but also as a thoughtful writer

Scattered in his Notebooks are memorable aphorisms on life, philosophy, and art.

Here are 15 of his best.

A thread:🧵 Image
15. 𝘞𝘦, 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥. Image
14. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵! Image
13. 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺. Image
12. 𝘗𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳. Image
11. 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳. Image
10. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘵. Image
9. 𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. Image
8. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧... 𝘚𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘦. Image
7. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.

𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘴; 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘳𝘳. Image
6. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. Image
5. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦; 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺. Image
4. 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. Image
3. 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯. Image
2. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. Image
1. 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴. Image
Thanks for reading.

Share your favorite quote (and work of art) from Leonardo da Vinci, by sharing one of the above.

Or, share the whole thread with your friends, linked below:

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with CoffeeWithTheClassics

CoffeeWithTheClassics Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @CoffeewClassics

Nov 29
Happy 126th Birthday to C.S. Lewis, born on this day, November 29, 1898.

In 1962, he was asked what books most influenced him.

He responded with a list of 10 books.

They're Great Books. I recommend you read them -- or, at least, read this thread about them: Image
10. George MacDonald's Phantastes

A fantasy novel about a young man searching for his female ideal in a dream-world.

Lewis once said: "I have never concealed the fact that I regard [MacDonald] as my master... I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him." Lamia (first version) by John William Waterhouse, 1905
9. Virgil's The Aeneid

An epic poem that is foundational to Western literature, it tells of Aeneas's heroic journey from the fall of Troy to the shores of Italy.

Lewis once wrote:

"A man, an adult, is precisely what [Aeneas] is... With Virgil, European poetry grows up." Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus and Octavia, by Jean-Joseph Taillasson, 1787.
Read 12 tweets
Oct 23
Long before Tolkien’s fantasy worlds enchanted us, other stories enchanted him.

Ever wonder which books sparked his imagination?

Here's a thread of 15 works — some high-brow, some low, all fascinating — that shaped Tolkien's world: Bertuccio's Bride by Edward Robert Hughes, 1895
1. Beowulf

Beowulf was Tolkien's academic specialty, and he consciously drew upon it in LOTR.

Ents, orcs & elves are all taken from Beowulf.

Gollum is partly based on the monster Grendel.

And the dragon Smaug (in The Hobbit) mirrors Beowulf's dragon.

But that's not all. illustration by J.R. Skelton for "Stories from Beowulf," 1911
Like Beowulf, LOTR also portrays a pagan, pre-Christ world but is by a deeply Christian author.

Tolkien sought to match how Beowulf nodded implicitly towards Christian eschatology through "large symbolism" about good, evil & redemptive grace but eschewed heavy-handed allegory. illustration by J.R. Skelton for "Stories from Beowulf," 1911
Read 22 tweets
Oct 21
Leonardo da Vinci was a true polymathic genius, not just as an artist and inventor, but also as a thoughtful writer

Scattered in his Notebooks are memorable aphorisms on life, philosophy, and art.

Here are 15 of his best. 🧵 Image
15. Impatience, the mother of stupidity, praises brevity. Image
14. Consider in the streets at nightfall the faces of men and women when it is bad weather, what grace and sweetness they manifest! Image
Read 17 tweets
Oct 17
Happy 170th Birthday (one day late) to one of literature's most acid pens, Oscar Wilde.

A thread of the controversial playwright's most insulting (and amusing) quotations.

Which is your favorite?🧵👇 Image
20. "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their life a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - De Profundis Image
19. “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” - The Duchess of Padua Image
Read 22 tweets
Oct 15
In 1887, Mark Twain was asked what books every boy and girl should read.

He responded with a list of seven.

It's a list of Great Books, and they're not just for kids.

I think adults should read them, too -- or, at least, read this thread about them: 🧵 Image
7. Defoe's The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

A timeless shipwrecked adventure story, Crusoe faces challenge after challenge on his desert island.

Crusoe's saga is a testament to the importance of perseverance, ingenuity, and never giving up. Robinson Crusoe illustration by N.C. Wyeth (1920)
6. Gulliver's Travels

Lemuel Gulliver is shipwrecked, but that is only the start of his travails, each group of people he encounters more astonishing than the last.

Gulliver's adventures surprise and delight, but also instill resilience, humor, and a sense of wonder. Image
Read 11 tweets
Oct 4
Before he was a leader, Napoleon Bonaparte was a reader.

He read *everything* -- romances, plays, histories, myths.

A thread of (some of) Napoleon's favorite works of literature. 🧵👇

(Inspired by "Napoleon's Library" by Louis Sarkozy - an interesting book, I recommend it). The young Napoleon Bonaparte studying at the military academy at Brienne-le-Chateau, France, c. 1780. Litho by Job (pseudonym of Jacques Marie Gaston Onfroy de Breville), published in Bonaparte by Georges Montorgueil, Boivin & Cie, Paris, 1908.
10. Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther

Napoleon idolized Goethe and even summoned him for a meeting in 1808.

Werther is an epistolary novel, chronicling the obsessions and failures of a highly emotional young man, struggling to cope with a failed romance. Goethe in the Roman Campagna (1786) by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein
Napoleon first read Werther during his Egyptian campaign in 1798 and recognized aspects of his own personality in the protagonist.

He later told Goethe, “I studied it like a criminal judge studies his papers.” Goethe in 1828, by Joseph Karl Stieler
Read 17 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(