Men of genius sometimes accomplish most when they work the least.

Leonardo da Vinci

Quoted in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, by Giorgio Vasari

More information about this quote

Topic

Success Work Leisure

Speaker

Leonardo da Vinci

Author

Giorgio Vasari

Source

Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects

Genre

Biography

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

Italian

Time

1568 1560s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Occupation

Painter Artist

From

Italy Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Vasari, Giorgio. Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori [The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects]. Vol 2, Florence: Giunti, 1568.

Current Citation

Vasari, Giorgio. Lives of the Artists, translated by George Bull. Vol. 1, Penguin Classics, 1988.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Work

I don't like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality—for yourself, not for others—what no other man can ever know.

Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness

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More information about this quote
Topic
Value of work Work

Author

Joseph Conrad
Source
Heart of Darkness
Language
English
Time
1899 1890s 19th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." Blackwood's Magazine. London and Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, Feb. 1899 - Apr. 1899.

Current Citation

Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." Heart of Darkness and Other Tales, edited by Cedric Watts. Oxford University Press, 2008, ch. 1.

Another quote from European Renaissance

But be not afraid of greatness.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.

William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night

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More information about this quote
Topic
Greatness
Speaker
Malvolio

Author

William Shakespeare
Source
Twelfth Night
Medium
Play
Genre
Comedy (play) Romantic comedy (play)
Language
English
Time
1602 1600s 17th century
Era
European Renaissance
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night, Or What You Will. 1602, Middle Temple Hall, London, England, UK, act 2, sc. 5.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Twelfth Night." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 5.

Another quote originally in Italian

Thence we came forth to see the stars again.

Dante Alighieri

Inferno

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Read the Divine Comedy at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Stars The night sky

Author

Dante Alighieri
Source
Inferno The Divine Comedy
Medium
Poem
Genre
Narrative poem Epic poem Religious literature
Language
Italian
Time
1321 1320s 14th century
Era
Middle Ages
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Alighieri, Dante. "Inferno [Hell]." La Comedia di Dante Alleghieri [The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri]. Foligno: Johann Numeister and Evangelista Angelini da Trevi, 1472.

Current Citation

Alighieri, Dante. "Inferno." The Divine Comedy, edited by David H. Higgins, translated by C. H. Sisson. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Another quote of the following type Paradox

We need in love to practice only this:
Letting each other go. For holding on
Comes easily; we do not need to learn it.

Rainer Maria Rilke

More information about this quote
Topic
Relationships Letting go

Author

Rainer Maria Rilke
Medium
Poem
Statement Type
Paradox
Language
German
Time
1909 1900s 20th century
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. Requiem fur eine Freundin [Requiem for a Friend]. c. 1908.

Current Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. "Requiem for a Friend." The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Stephen Mitchell. Vintage, 1989.