"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."

Experience

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Insight & Reflection

This reflection on experience by Leonardo da Vinci resonates across generations. It highlights a fundamental truth about human nature: our continuous search for meaning in experience is what ultimately defines our character and our path forward.

About Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he has also become known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and palaeontology. Leonardo is widely regarded as a genius who epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works contributed to the development of European art to an extent rivalled only by that of his younger contemporary Michelangelo.

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Editorial Note: This quote is curated and fact-checked by the Quotes Archive Editorial Team. Verified Literature Specialist.

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"It is a enduring truth that every second given to regret is a precious second stolen from creation — an essential principle for the reflective life."

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"It is a steadfast truth that patience is not passive waiting; it is active endurance with a calm countenance — an essential principle for the reflective life."

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"It is a timeless truth that knowledge is the gathering of scattered facts; wisdom is the synthesis of lived experience — an essential principle for the reflective life."

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