Leonardo da Vinci Quotes
You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand.
Da Vinci, Leonardo. The Literary Works of Leonardo da Vinci. Translated by Jean Paul Richter, vol. 2, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1883, p. 306.
This seemingly abstruse philosophical statement actually found its way into one of the major political debates of the 21st Century when the Secretary of Defense was defending the management of the Iraq War and the interpretation of intelligence. See {586062}.
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, theorist, engineer, scientist, sculptor and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he also became known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology. Leonardo's genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works compose a contribution to later generations of artists rivaled only by that of his younger contemporary and fellow founder of the High Renaissance, Michelangelo.
