The Key to Leonardo da Vinci’s Genius is a Habit Anyone Can Learn

The pleasure of finding things out changes everything

Thomas Oppong
Mind Cafe
Published in
4 min readMay 2, 2023

--

Photo: Editorial rights purchased via Freepik

Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance polymath: he was an artist, scientist, inventor, engineer, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.

His famous quote, “Learning never exhausts the mind,” sums up his approach to life.

Leonardo da Vinci was known for his rigorous daily routine, which included everything from painting to studying anatomy to designing machines.

He believed that by diversifying his day, he could keep his mind sharp and foster new ideas. And he was right.

By constantly challenging himself and learning new things, he became one of history’s most innovative and creative minds.

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding,” da Vinci said.

And while it may seem impossible to achieve such a range of expertise, we can all adopt one key habit that da Vinci practiced: diversifying our days.

Many of us are fascinated by geniuses and polymaths (people with expertise in multiple fields or areas of knowledge).

--

--

Thomas Oppong
Mind Cafe

Making the wisdom of great thinkers instantly accessible. As seen on Forbes, Inc. and Business Insider. For my popular essays, go here: https://thomasoppong.com