The Wisdom of Leonardo da Vinci

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• Publisher: Philosophical Library/Open Road
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781453202517
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Artist Biographies

An intriguing look inside the mind of the Renaissance genius
 
Leonardo da Vinci stood on a bridge between medieval thought and the modern mind. In this selection of entries from his dozens of coded notebooks and unpublished manuscripts, his unending curiosity in the universe and deep knowledge come through in his energetic style. The self-educated da Vinci developed a philosophical system that set him apart from his contemporaries and marked him as the oracle of a new age, and his vivid imagination and straightforward writing style capture the reader's attention whether he is writing about his scientific analysis, his opinion of necromancy, discoveries in nature, or the nature of man. Accompanied by a thorough introduction, The Wisdom of Leonardo da Vinci unveils the man's deepest thoughts and musings and proves why he remains an intriguing and enduring figure.
 

 

PART ONE

STUDENT AND PHILOSOPHER

The Challenge to Explore

Good men naturally thirst after knowledge. (C. A. 119 v.)

The stormy sea does not make such a great roar when the north wind lashes its foaming waves back and forth between Scylla and Charybdis; nor Stromboli nor Aetna when the pent-up force of burning brimstone rends asunder the great mountain, hurling through the air earth and rocks along with spurting, spewing flame; nor when the red-hot caverns of Aetna release their restive element, belching it forth and scattering it furiously throughout their domain, shooting by preference any obstacle that stands in the path of their unbridled rage.

Urged on by my eagerness to see the many varied and strange forms shaped by artful nature, I wandered for some time among the shady rocks and finally came to the entrance of a great cavern. At first I stood before it dumbfounded, knowing nothing of such a thing; then I bent over with my left hand braced against my knee and my right shading my squinting, deep-searching eyes; again and again I bent over, peering here and there to discern something inside; but the all-embracing darkness revealed nothing.

Standing there, I was suddenly struck by two things, fear and longing: fear of the dark, ominous cavern; longing to see if inside there was something wonderful. (Ar. 155 r.)

True and False Sciences

Many men will rationally allege that my findings conflict with the raw judgment of certain men held in great reverence, and they will not be swayed by the fact that my findings were born of pure and simple experience, the supreme teacher.

My rules will provide a basis for distinguishing the true and the false. You will therefore promise each other only the things which are possible and most moderate, and you will not be veiled by ignorance but will so act that, even if you miss your mark, you will not give yourself over in desperation to melancholy. (C. A. 119 v.)

Originators and Imitators

Though I can not like others cite authors, I shall cite something much greater and more worthy: experience, the mistress of their masters. They go about capacious and pompous, decked out not in their own performances but in the accomplishments of others; and they will not credit me with my own. If they disdain me as an inventor, how much more blame might be cast on the trumpeters and expositors of the works of others.

There is but one way to judge and appraise men who are true inventors and interpreters to nature and men in contrast to those who are the trumpeters and expositors of the works of others. They are like objects placed in front of a mirror with respect to their likenesses in the mirror; one group is in itself something and the other nothing. People without close ties to nature and garbed only in the inventions of others I should class with animals. (C. A. 117 r.)

Talent and Letters

Whoever cites authority in a discussion is using not his wit but his memory.

Good writing comes from good talent. Since more praise is given to causes than to effects, you should praise good talent without letters more than a man of letters without talent. (C. A. 76 r.)

Authority and Experience

Consider, readers, what we should accept from our forebears. They tried to define soul and life, things that are not demonstrable, but for many centuries they ignored or misunderstood things that were always demonstrable through experience. The eye, which clearly has experience as its function, has up until my time been defined by many authors in but one way; I find through experience that it must be given another definition. (C. A. 119 v.)

Effect of My Rules

If you should ask me: “What issues from your rules? Of what use are they?” I should answer that they restrain inventors and investigators, preventing them from promising to themselves or to others impossible things and thus being called fools or frauds. (C. A. 337 r.)

Necromancy and Alchemy

But of all methods of reasoning, the one to be reckoned most foolish is that relating to necromancy, the sister of alchemy, which works with simple natural elements. Necromancy is even more reprehensible than alchemy inasmuch as it spawns only its own likeness, lies, for these have no part in alchemy. The task of the alchemists can not be carried out by nature since she lacks the organic tools to produce independently the things which man fashions with his hands, such as glass.

Necromancy, however, is a standard or banner unfurled to the wind; it directs the foolish crowd which forever bears witness with its incessant barking to the enduring appeal of such arts. Books are filled with accounts of potent spells and of spirits that speak without tongues or vocal organs, both of which are necessary for speech. They speak, carry heavy weights, make storms and rain; men turn into cats, wolves, and other beasts; the first to turn into fools, however, are those who make such statements.

Surely if necromancy were possible, as vulgar minds think, nothing else in the whole world would be of such great importance for the use and abuse of man. Suppose that in such arts there were the power to trouble the calm serenity of the air, to give the air the darkness of night, to produce storms and winds with frightful thunderclaps and flashes of lightning that rend the darkness and with relentless winds topple tall buildings and uproot forests, causing them to fall upon armies and dash them to the ground, and to produce still other ruinous storms that deprive the farmer of the fruits of his labor. O what manner of war could inflict so much harm on the enemy and even have the power to deprive him of his harvest? What maritime battle could rival the one in which the necromancer commanded the winds and caused every fleet to be sunk and destroyed?

Surely whoever commanded such spurious powers would be master of the people, and no human mind could resist his destructive might. The hidden treasures and gems that lie in the bosom of the earth would all be manifest to him; no lock, no impregnable fortress, but only the necromancer’s fancy would spare his foes. He would have himself borne through the air from east to west and in every opposing direction throughout the universe. But why go further? What would such an artisan be unable to overcome? Almost nothing except death.

I am merely suggesting the harm and the good that might be contained in such an art if it were true. And if it were true, why would it not be practiced by the men who worship it, regardless of any divinity? I know that countless men to satisfy their appetites would destroy God and the whole universe. If it is not still practiced by the men to whom it is so necessary, then it never was and never will be. The spirit is said to be invisible and incorporeal, but within the elements there is nothing incorporeal; for where there is no body there is void; within the elements void does not exist, for immediately it would be filled by its element. (An. B, 31 v.)

Spirits

A spirit is by definition a power joined to a body. Alone it can not support itself, nor can it make any sort of movement. And if you say that it supports itself, this can not be from within the elements, for if the spirit is an incorporeal quantity, then this quantity is designated as void, and does not exist in nature; even if it did, it would be filled through the destruction of the element in which it was created. (An. B 312)

There can be no voice where there is not movement and trembling of the air; there can be no trembling of the air where there is no instrument; and there can be no incorporeal instrument. Since that is so, a spirit can have neither voice nor form nor force, and should it take possession of a body, it would be unable to penetrate or enter through closed doors. It is claimed that by means of accumulated and compressed air spirits gain possession of variously shaped bodies and through these instruments acquire strength for speech and motion. I hold that where there are no nerves and bone, no force can be exercised by any movement made by the imagined spirit.

Shun the teachings of those speculators whose arguments are not confirmed by experience. (B, 4 v.)

Speech and Languages

No other member has need of so many m...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• References
• Introduction
• Foreword
• Part One: Student and Philosopher
• Part Two: The Moralist and the Writer
• Copyright Page