Variant: Just as iron rusts from disuse... even so does inaction spoil the intellect.
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Just as iron rusts unless it is used, and water putrifies or, in cold, turns to ice, so our intellect spoils unless it is kept in use.
— Leonardo da Vinci
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Just as iron rusts unless it is used, and water putrifies or, in cold, turns to ice, so our intellect spoils unless it is kept in use." in the context of "Variant: Just as iron rusts from disuse... even so does inaction spoil the intellect." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Leonardo da Vinci" (Quotes, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1883): These quotes are primarily from the published edition of Jean Paul Richter (1883), as translated into English by Mrs. R. C. Bell and Edward John Poynter , XIX Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, inventor, engineer, sculptor, and musician. His best known painting is the Mona Lisa.
About Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, inventor, engineer, sculptor, and musician. His best known painting is the Mona Lisa.
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