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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
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