Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
First study the science, and then practice the art which is born of that science.
Perspective is to painting what the bridle is to the horse, the rudder to a ship.
We might say that the earth has the spirit of growth; that its flesh is the soil.
Vitality and beauty are gifts of Nature for those who live according to its laws.
We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.
A man of supreme folly: his life flies away while he is merely hoping to enjoy it.
The lover is drawn by the thing loved, as the sense is by that which it perceives.
The earth is moved from its position by the weight of a tiny bird resting upon it.
Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.
I have always felt it is my destiny to build a machine that would allow man to fly.
Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?
Fame alone raises herself to Heaven, because virtuous things are in favour with God.
Avoid the precepts of those thinkers whose reasoning is not confirmed by experience.
When Fortune comes, seize her in front with a sure hand, because behind she is bald.
There is no higher or lower knowledge, but one only, flowing out of experimentation.
Fire destroys all sophistry, that is deceit; and maintains truth alone, that is gold.
The water which rises in the mountains is the blood which keeps the mountain in life.
Fire destroys falsehood, that is sophistry, and restores truth, driving out darkness.
Black is like a broken vessel, which is deprived of the capacity to contain anything.
The mind that engages in subjects of too great variety becomes confused and weakened.
It's not enough that you believe what you see. You must also understand what you see.
Given the cause nature produces the effect in the briefest manner that it can employ.
Who would believe that so small a space could contain the images of all the universe?
Anyone who invokes authors in discussion is not using his intelligence but his memory.
The sun gives spirit and life to the plants and the earth nourishes them with moisture.
The color of the object illuminated partakes of the color of that which illuminates it.
Nature appears to have been the cruel stepmother rather than the mother of many animals.
Instrumental or mechanical science is the noblest and above all others, the most useful.
I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have.
Many have made a trade of delusions and false miracles, deceiving the stupid multitudes.
Oh! how foul a thing, that we should see the tongue of one animal in the guts of another.
A good memory, which nature has endowed us with, causes things long past to seem present.
Among the great things which are found among us the existence of Nothing is the greatest.
He only moves toward the perfection of his art whose criticism surpasses his achievement.
It is the infinite alone that cannot be attained, for if it could it would become finite.
An arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength.
Envy wounds with false accusations, that is with detraction, a thing which scares virtue.
Most men are of naught more use in their lives but as machines for turning food into sh*t.
If we make mistakes in our first compositions and do not know them, we may not amend them.
The imagination is to the effect as the shadow to the opaque body which causes the shadow.
He who does not understand the supreme certainty of mathematics is wallowing in confusion.
Small rooms or dwellings set the mind in the right path, large ones cause it to go astray.
Marriage is like putting your hand into a bag of snakes in the hope of pulling out an eel.
For those colours which you wish to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white ground.
Test knowledge through experience, be prepared to make mistakes, and be persistent about it.
Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works.
Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world.
He who in reasoning cites authority is making use of his memory rather than of his intellect.
We know well that mistakes are more easily detected in the works of others than in one's own.
A luminous body will appear more brilliant in proportion as it is surrounded by deeper shadow.