Leonardo da Vinci

“truovasi di miglio i(n) miglio bone osteriee. ( Ancient Italian ) You can find good taverns from mile to mile.”

“Subito salse in me due cose: paura e desiderio: paura per la minacciante e scura spelonca, desiderio per vedere se là entro fusse alcuna miracolosa cosa. ( Ancient Italian ) At once two things came to mind: fear and desire: fear of the threatening dark cave, desire to see if there was anything miraculous within it.(referring to the "Cave of Acquabianca" or "La Ferrera" on Lake Comuntain).”

“Fa vini potenti e assai, … e ‘l vino vale el più uno soldo il boccale e la libbra della vitella un soldo e ‘l sale 10 dinari, e ‘l simile il burro, ed è la loro libbra 30 once, e l’ova un soldo la soldata. ( Modern Italian ) He makes powerful and very strong wines, … and the wine is worth more than a penny per jug and the pound of veal a penny and the salt 10 denarii, and so is the butter, and their pound is 30 ounces, and the eggs a penny.”

“It is the infinite alone that cannot be attained, for if it could it would become finite. Thoughts on Art and Life , by Leonardo da Vinci ,”

“As a day well spent makes sleep seem pleasant, so a life well employed makes death pleasant. A life well spent is long.”

“Thou, O God, sellest us all benefits, at the cost of our toil....”

“Look at the grace and sweetness of men and women in the street...”

“The painter strives and competes with nature...There is nothing in all nature without its reason. If you know the reason, you do not need the experience...”

“Oysters open completely when the moon is full; and when the crab sees one it throws a piece of stone or seaweed into it and the oyster cannot close again so that it serves the crab for meat. Such is the fate of him who opens his mouth too much and thereby puts himself at the mercy of the listener. As quoted in The 48 Laws of Power (2000) by Robert Greene, p. 33”

“Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen. These two arts, you may call them both either poetry or painting, have here interchanged the senses by which they penetrate to the intellect . A Treatise on Painting (1651); "The Paragone"; compiled by Francesco Melzi prior to 1542, first published as Trattato della pittura by Raffaelo du Fresne”