60 Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes About Life and Art

These Leonarda Da Vinci quotes are sure to inspire anyone who is a fan of his artwork.

If you enjoyed any of these quotes, share which ones you liked best in the comments below.

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance (GET READY FOR ALL THIS!) artist, sculptor, inventor, architect, musician, cartographer, mathematician, engineer, anatomist, geologist, author, and botanist.

He had such a daunting influence and expertise over a wide range of different subject areas.

Best known for his art, Da Vinci has recently received a new wave of popularity for his insightful and inspirational quotes. 

Below you’ll find our collection of inspirational, wise, and memorable Leonardo Da Vinci quotes and sayings collected from a variety of sources over the years.

These Leonardo Da Vinci quotes cover various aspects of life and will inspire you to follow your passions.

We also have a collection of great Bob Ross quotes that will inspire you to own your mistakes, be more patient, and to appreciate the little joys of life.

If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes about life and art

1. “He who thinks little errs much.” – Leonardo da Vinci

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2. “Learning never exhausts the mind.” – Leonardo da Vinci

3. I love those who can smile in trouble.” – Leonardo da Vinci

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4. “Life without love, is no life at all.” – Leonardo da Vinci

5. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

6. “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” – Leonardo da Vinci

7. “The knowledge of all things is possible.”  – Leonardo da Vinci

8. “The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.” – Leonardo da Vinci

9. “Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood.” – Leonardo da Vinci

10. “As you cannot do what you want, want what you can do.” – Leonardo da Vinci

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of painting quotes about the power of creating with color.

More Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes

11. “As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.” – Leonardo da Vinci

12. “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” – Leonardo da Vinci

13. “A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.” – Leonardo da Vinci

14. “Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” – Leonardo da Vinci

15. “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” – Leonardo da Vinci

16. “It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” – Leonardo da Vinci

17. “Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind.” – Leonardo da Vinci

18. “All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions.” – Leonardo da Vinci

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Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes To Inspire You

19. “Realize that everything connects to everything else.” – Leonardo da Vinci

20. “Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.” – Leonardo da Vinci

21. “Once you have tasted the taste of sky, you will forever look up.” – Leonardo da Vinci

22. “Obstacles cannot crush me; every obstacle yields to stern resolve.” – Leonardo da Vinci

23. “Why does the eye see more clearly when asleep than the imagination when awake?” – Leonardo da Vinci

24. “Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.” – Leonardo da Vinci

25. “A well-spent day brings happy sleep.” – Leonardo da Vinci

26. “Wisdom is the daughter of experience.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Famous Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes To Help Ignite Your Passion

27. “He who truly knows has no occasion to shout.” – Leonardo da Vinci

28. “A wave is never found alone, but is mingled with the other waves.” – Leonardo da Vinci

29. “Just as a well-filled day brings blessed sleep, so a well-employed life brings a blessed death.” – Leonardo da Vinci

30. “In time and with water, everything changes.” – Leonardo da Vinci

31. “The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” – Leonardo da Vinci

32. “Tears come from the heart and not from the brain.”  – Leonardo da Vinci

33. “Every action needs to be prompted by a motive.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes about Art

34. “There is no object so large but that at a great distance from the eye it does not appear smaller than a smaller object near.” – Leonardo da Vinci

35. “He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.”  – Leonardo da Vinci

36. “I have always felt it is my destiny to build a machine that would allow man to fly.” – Leonardo da Vinci

37. “Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master.” – Leonardo da Vinci

38. “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” – Leonardo da Vinci

39. “You can have no dominion greater or less than that over yourself.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes on Life

40. “Life well spent is long.” – Leonardo da Vinci

41. “There are three classes of people: those who see, those who see when they are shown, those who do not see.” – Leonardo da Vinci

42. “It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Top Quotes by Leonardo Da Vinci 

43. “You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand.” – Leonardo da Vinci

44. “A beautiful body perishes, but a work of art dies not.” – Leonardo da Vinci

45. Beyond a doubt truth bears the same relation to falsehood as light to darkness.” – Leonardo da Vinci

46. “Experience does not err. Only your judgments err by expecting from her what is not in her power.” – Leonardo da Vinci

More Leonardo Da Vinci Quotes and Sayings

47. “Every action needs to be prompted by a motive.”  – Leonardo da Vinci

48. “I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.” – Leonardo da Vinci

49. “Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else.”  – Leonardo da Vinci

50. “Whatever you do in life, if you want to be creative and intelligent, and develop your brain, you must do everything with the awareness that everything, in some way, connects to everything else.” – Leonardo da Vinci

51. “Be a mirror, absorb everything around you and still remain the same.” – Leonardo da Vinci

52. “Beauty perishes in life, but is immortal in art.” – Leonardo da Vinci

53. “Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom.” – Leonardo da Vinci

54. “While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.” – Leonardo da Vinci

55. “Learning is the only thing that never disappoints us.” – Leonardo da Vinci

56. “People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life.” – Leonardo da Vinci

57. “Our life is made by the death of others.” – Leonardo da Vinci

58. “Not to appreciate life, all of life, is not to deserve it.” – Leonardo da Vinci

59. “To discover the soul living in somebody’s body, we watch the surrounding of the body, and if it’s messy and disordered, so is the soul.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Great Minds: Leonardo da Vinci

Which of these Leonardo Da Vinci quotes

Leonardo Da Vinci was an iconic man of his generation.

He left behind a rich legacy spanning multiple disciplines.

Although he is best known as an artist, Da Vinci’s work as a scientist and an inventor make him a true genius.

We hope his words will inspire you to reach your highest potential.

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Which of the quotes was your favorite?

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