Leonardo da Vinci vs. Ai Weiwei
Read 20 entries attributed to Leonardo da Vinci alongside 20 attributed to Ai Weiwei. Compare the wording and topic labels.
This page places 20 entries attributed to Leonardo da Vinci alongside 20 attributed to Ai Weiwei. Each selection is ordered by stored importance score. These are selections from QuoteLineage, not complete accounts of either author's work.
Topic labels present in both displayed selections: human nature, philosophy, life. Shared labels do not by themselves demonstrate agreement, disagreement, or influence between the authors.
Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, entry #119: "Up Lake Como towards Germany is the Chavenna Valley where the River Mera") enters the lake. Here are barren and very high mountains with large rocks ... In these mountains the wat…"
Attributed to Ai Weiwei, entry #136781: "I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art."
Side-by-Side Comparison
Leonardo da Vinci
1452 – 1519
Leonardo da Vinci (1452) was an Italian polymath of the Renaissance — painter, scientist, engineer, mathematician, and writer.
"Up Lake Como towards Germany is the Chavenna Valley where the River Mera") enters the lake. Here are barren and very high mountains with large rocks ... In t…"
#Ethics"Su per lago di Como di ver Lamagnia (Alemagna, cioè Germania) è valle di Ciavenna dove la Mera fiume mette in esso lago. Qui si truova montagni sterili e alt…"
#Science"Oysters open completely when the moon is full; and when the crab sees one it throws a piece of stone or seaweed into it and the oyster cannot close again so …"
#Science"3 miglia più in là si trova li edifici della vena del rame e dello argento, presso una terra detta Pra Santo Petro e vene di ferro e cose fantastiche. ( Anci…"
#Science"Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen. These two arts, you may call them both either poetry or…"
#Aesthetics"The painter strives and competes with nature...There is nothing in all nature without its reason. If you know the reason, you do not need the experience..."
#Epistemology"truovasi di miglio i(n) miglio bone osteriee. ( Ancient Italian)"
#Science"3 miles further on are the buildings of the vein of copper and silver, near a land called Prato San Pietro and veins of iron and fantastic things. (paper F.573)"
#Science"As a day well spent makes sleep seem pleasant, so a life well employed makes death pleasant. A life well spent is long."
#Human Nature"Fa vini potenti e assai, … e ‘l vino vale el più uno soldo il boccale e la libbra della vitella un soldo e ‘l sale 10 dinari, e ‘l simile il burro, ed è la l…"
#Science"Look at the grace and sweetness of men and women in the street..."
#Science"Thou, O God, sellest us all benefits, at the cost of our toil...."
#Religion"He makes powerful and very strong wines, … and the wine is worth more than a penny per jug and the pound of veal a penny and the salt 10 denarii, and so is t…"
#Science"Of the horse I will say nothing because I know the times."
#knowledge"It is impossible that the eye should project from itself, by visual rays, the visual virtue, since, as soon as it opens, that front portion which would give …"
#philosophy"It vexes me greatly that having to earn my living has forced me to interrupt the work and to attend to small matters."
#life"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death."
#life"All the elements will be seen mixed together in a great whirling mass, now borne towards the centre of the world, now towards the sky; and now furiously rush…"
#life"All the rays which convey the images of objects through the air are straight lines. Hence, if the images of very large bodies have to pass through very small…"
#life"The false interpreters of nature declare that quicksilver is the common seed of every metal, not remembering that nature varies the seed according to the var…"
#natureAi Weiwei
1957
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly critical of the Chinese government and its stance on democracy and human rights.
"I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art."
#life"Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what’s on his mind. A fairy tale has come true."
#truth"Beijing is two cities. One is of power and of money. People don’t care who their neighbors are; they don’t trust you. The other city is one of desperation. I…"
#money"The 2008 Olympics has created an illusion of China to the public and to the outside world. It is so fantastic, so unreal, that the entire meaning of the game…"
#philosophy"Contemporary art and the Party are an impossible situation. It’s like oil and water—they can never mix."
#art"I often ask myself if I am afraid of being detained again. I love freedom as much as anybody else, maybe more than most. But it is a tragedy to live your lif…"
#freedom"Anyone who cares about truth should avoid not politics, but Olympic lies."
#truth"People have said, if you leave, you may never come back. Or they may not even let you leave. So this is always a cost you may have to pay. But I don’t want t…"
#art"To me, to be political means you associate your work with a larger number of people’s living conditions, and that includes both mental and physical condition…"
#life"The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay."
#art"Twitter is the people’s tool, the tool of the ordinary people, people who have no other resources."
#Human Nature"Tradition is only a readymade. It’s for us to make a new gesture—to use it as a reference, more as a starting point than conclusion. Of course, there are ver…"
#art"It’s hard to recover. You become not so innocent. You become, in a way, more sophisticated, which I think you shouldn’t. We should all have more simple happi…"
#happiness"A small act is worth a million thoughts."
#mind"Chairman Mao was the first in the world to use Twitter. All his quotations are within 140 words."
#humor"The think of artists as prostitutes. And in reality it’s true: in the Communist system artists just represent what the power structure seeks them to represen…"
#truth"I have no sense of why I lost my freedom and if you do not know how you lost something, how can you protect it?"
#freedom"They don’t believe in liberty. They don’t believe in China before the Communists. There is only one simple, clear task: to protect their control, to maintain…"
#freedom"Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition."
#life"If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future."
#time