CoffeeWithTheClassics Profile picture
Apr 15, 2024 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

Jun 11
Nothing like a good hook to reel in the reader!

A Thread of the 50 Best Opening Lines in Classic Literature. 🧵 👇 Dickens' Dream by Robert William Buss, 1875
1. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

2. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

~Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice By Thomas Gainsborough, Public Domain
3. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

~George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

4. "Of arms and the man, I sing..."

~Virgil, The Aeneid

5. "I am an invisible man."

~Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man Claude Lorrain: Landscape with Aeneas at Delos
Read 27 tweets
May 29
Today is G.K. Chesterton's birthday, May 29, 1874.

Let's get him trending today.

In this thread, I have collected 25 of his best-loved quotes.

Which is your favorite? Share it, tell me about it, or post your own. 🧵👇 Image
“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”

~G.K. Chesterton
1/ Image
"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

~G.K. Chesterton
2/ Image
Read 27 tweets
May 26
Poet Wilfred Owen was killed-in-action in 1918, one week before the First World War's end.

Among his papers was found, unfinished, what would become the preface to his posthumous poetry collection.

Read on, for a Memorial Day thread on the War Poets: 🧵👇 Field with Poppies by Van Gogh, 1890
Owens wrote:

"This book is not about heroes.

English Poetry is not yet fit to speak of them.

Nor is it about deeds or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, dominion or power, except War... 2/ Field of Poppies by Claude Monet, 1881
"Above all, this book is not concerned with Poetry.

The subject of it is War, and the pity of War.

The Poetry is in the pity..." 3/ Poppy Field by Gustav Klimt, 1907
Read 12 tweets
Apr 27
On this day in 1882, writer Ralph Waldo Emerson breathed his last.

Emerson's transcendentalist worldview is not without its pitfalls, but it is *alive*. Few wrote about the possibilities of human achievement with more brilliance.

A thread of my favorite Emerson quotes: Image
15. "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards...

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."

~Emerson, Self-Reliance The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David
14. "Insist on yourself; never imitate.

Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation...

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him."

~Emerson, Self-Reliance Francisco Goya - La fragua
Read 17 tweets
Apr 26
On this day in AD 121, the Philosopher Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, was born.

His diary (never meant for publication) is a reservoir of quotable sayings, preaching resilience and self-control. It's worth reading.

Here's a thread of my favorite lines from his Meditations: licensed from Adobe Stock
15. Be like the rock against which the waves break.

It stands firm and tames the fury of the waters around it. Waves Breaking on a Rocky Coast by David James, bef. 1904
14. Consider the past.

Empires rose and fell, and they will in the future, too.

So it is with a human’s life. Thomas Cole: The Course of Empire: Destruction
Read 17 tweets
Apr 23
Happy Birthday to the Immortal Bard!

To celebrate, a thread of every Shakespeare play, with the most memorable lines from each: Image
1. Romeo and Juliet

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet..." (II.ii) Romeo and Juliet by Ford Maddox Ford, c. 1850
2. Macbeth

"...Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing." (V.v) Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches on the heath, Théodore Chassériau, 1855
Read 27 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!

:(