1183

On riches.

That is not riches, which may be lost; virtue is our true good and the true reward of its possessor. That cannot be lost; that never deserts us, but when life leaves us. As to property and external riches, hold them with trembling; they often leave their possessor in contempt, and mocked at for having lost them.

Taken from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci edited by Jean Paul Richter, 1880.

Notebooks of Leonoardo da Vinci
XIX: Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.
. . .
1163
Death.
1164
How to spend life.
1165,
1166,
1167,
1168,
1169,
1170,
1171,
1172,
1173,
1174,
1175,
1176,
1177,
1178,
1179
On foolishness and ignorance.
1180,
1181,
1182
On riches.
1183,
1184,
1185,
1186,
1187
Rules of Life.
1188,
1189,
1190,
1191,
1192,
1193,
1194,
1195,
1196,
1197,
1198,
1199,
1200,
1201,
1202
Politics.
1203
. . .