Thoughts on Art and Life by Leonardo da Vinci

The worst evil which can befall the artist is that his work should appear good in his own eyes.

Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment, so does study without zeal damage the memory by not assimilating what it absorbs.

The imagination is to the effect as the shadow to the opaque body which causes the shadow

had learned the secret of the inner life.

"the painter strives and competes with nature,"

Thou, O God, sellest us all benefits, at the cost of our toil.... As a day well spent makes sleep seem pleasant, so a life well employed makes death pleasant. A life well spent is long."

inward purpose and outward expression

"There is nothing in all nature without its reason," he wrote. "If you know the reason, you do not need the experience."

A keen desire for knowledge, guiding his action in life, spurred him onward.

It is better to imitate ancient than modern work.