Echoes
Leonardo da Vinci
1505
“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply.”
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Of a surety, at the Day of Judgment it will be demanded of us, not what we have read, but what we have done; not how well we have spoken, but how holily we have lived.
Arise, begin this very moment, and say, “Now is the time to do: now is the time to fight, now is the proper time for amendment.”
You may never know what results come of your actions. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
It is well said, then, that it is by doing just acts that the just man is produced, and by doing temperate acts the temperate man; without doing these no one would have even a prospect of becoming good. But most people do not do these, but take refuge in theory and think they are being philosophers and will become good in this way, behaving somewhat like patients who listen attentively to their doctors, but do none of the things they are ordered to do.
Well done is better than well said.
We have a given problem to solve. If we undertake the solution, there is, of course, always danger that we may not solve it aright; but to refuse to undertake the solution simply renders it certain that we cannot possibly solve it aright.
Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved.
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.
Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.
There is a limit to the time assigned you, and if you don't use it to free yourself it will be gone and never return.
It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.
True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written, in writing what deserves to be read, and in so living as to make the world happier for our living in it.
It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them.
Do not go by revelation; Do not go by tradition; Do not go by hearsay; Do not go on the authority of sacred texts; Do not go on the grounds of pure logic; Do not go by a view that seems rational; Do not go by reflecting on mere appearances; Do not go along with a considered view because you agree with it; Do not go along on the grounds that the person is competent; Do not go along because "the recluse is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; and when undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them... Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These are wholesome; these things are not blameworthy; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, having undertaken them, abide in them.
Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.
Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.
The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.
The Tao is like a bellows: it is empty yet infinitely capable. The more you use it, the more it produces; the more you talk of it, the less you understand.
Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.
We do not belong to those who have ideas only among books, when stimulated by books. It is our habit to think outdoors — walking, leaping, climbing, dancing.
Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
Come forth into the light of things, let Nature be your teacher.
To see what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.