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Leon Battista Alberti Quotes

Quotations Written by Leon Battista Alberti

By Melissa Snell, About.com

Leon Battista Alberti was a humanist philosopher, writer, Renaissance architect and artistic theorist. The quotes that follow have been attributed to Leon Battista Alberti; sources are unavailable.
  • A man can do all things if he but wills them.

  • Beauty - the adjustment of all parts proportionately so that one cannot add or subtract or change without impairing the harmony of the whole.

  • I certainly consider a great appreciation of painting to be the best indication of a most perfect mind.

  • Painting is possessed of divine power, for not only does it make the absent present, but also makes the dead almost alive.

  • Philosophers say that nothing can be seen that is neither illuminated nor colored.

  • There is no art which has not had its beginnings in things full of errors. Nothing is at the same time both new and perfect.

  • We must always take from nature what we paint and always choose the most beautiful things.

  • When I investigate and when I discover that the forces of the heavens and the planets are within ourselves, then truly I seem to be living among the gods.

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