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Meaning
The quote suggests that human life depends on the death of other living things. It points to the idea that survival often comes at the expense of something else. The line can also be read as a reflection on the cost built into nature and daily life.
When It Was Said
1883
Who It Was Said To
Not documented yet.
Historical Context
Not documented yet.
Source
The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, XIV
Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
The phrase appears verbatim in the public-domain text "The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, XIV" (Wikisource); no earlier source was checked.
Did You Know?
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath who lived from 1452 to 1519.
About Leonardo da Vinci
Italian polymath of the High Renaissance
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance, active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. Born Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, he is best known simply as Leonardo. His reputation first rested on painting, but his notebooks made him famous in a broader sense. In them, he set down drawings and notes on subjects ranging from anatomy and astronomy to botany, cartography, painting, and palaeontology. He is widely regarded as a genius who embodied the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his work helped shape European art.
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READ THE SOURCE
Books by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo
1995
A Treatise on Painting
2002
Trattato della pittura
2005
Leonardo da Vinci, anatomist
2012
Literary works of Leonardo da Vinci
2002