Humble beginnings Quote by Hourly History

Leonardo da Vinci was comfortable being illegitimate, gay, a misfit, a heretic. But he also respected other people. He didn't get into disputations. He…

— Walter Isaacson

“Leonardo had almost no schooling and could barely read Latin or do long division. His genius was of the type we can understand, even…

— Walter Isaacson

Indeed, the great Leonardo (da Vinci) remained like a child for the whole of his life in more than one way. It is said…

— Sigmund Freud

The oft-heard comment that Leonardo [da Vinci]'s genius managed to transcend the culture of his time is amply justified. But his was not a…

— Lucio Russo

Leonardo da Vinci was a man of regal spirit and tremendous breadth of mind; and his name became so famous that not only was…

— Giorgio Vasari

“Leonardo, with his profound knowledge of art, commenced various undertakings, many of which he never completed, because it appeared to him that the hand…

— Sherwin B. Nuland

“But Italy worked some marvel in her. It gave her light, and – which he held more precious – it gave her shadow. Soon…

— E.M. Forster

“...the most sublime of oddballs, Leonardo da Vinci”

— Norman Maclean

“It’s amazing — and poignant — to think that Leonardo (da Vinci)did consider himself as something of a failure. He didn’t believe that he…

— Ross King

Leonardo is the Hamlet of art history whom each of us must recreate for himself.

— Kenneth Clark

Leonardo da Vinci was lucky to be born the same year that Johannes Gutenberg opened his printing shop. As a young person, he could…

— Walter Isaacson

“Leonardo is credited with saying, “you have no dominion greater or lesser than that over yourself.” No words could be truer. He lived this…

— Hourly History