Keep failing…eventually you will succeed…
Are you ever afraid of trying ? You should not be since trying and facing the risk of failure is what eventually will help you succeed. Great men and woman have gone before us facing the risk of failure. Today I took the time to read a little about one of them – a truly great man who has inspired millions over the years – a man whom made designs that would come to be build some 500 years after they were designed.
On April 15 – 1452 a peasant woman named Caterina gave birth to an illegitimate son. He would grow up first in early years with his mother and in later years together with his father Messer Piero the notary. The boy would not hold any formal educations as a scientist the boy did not attend university but now more than 500 years have passed and he is still on a daily basis an inspiration to millions of people.
Considering that he lived in what has now become the middle ages and considering the lack of formal education imagine what you can do today! Caterinas son studied arts he drew a lot and he was one of the first to really grasp the linear perspective in drawings. One of his drawings is still to this day one of the most replicated and it has inspired artist as well as scientist, doctors ordinary people around the world ever since. The drawing that I am talking about is “The Vitruvian Man”.
Still he did not stop - he moved forward even further to benefit mankind even more. He studied the human anatomy disected more than 30 corpses and made detailed drawings of inner organs as well. He tried to reach a deeper understanding of the vascular system and made detailed drawings of the human fetus. His study of the human anatomy even lead to the design of the first known robot. The design was made as early as 1495 but only rediscovered some 50 years ago.
Still the art was one of his greatest gifts or at least it is as an artist that he is probably know the best. Every day thousands pass by his picture painted just about 500 years ago. A picture that forever changed the way that artist perceive and use light in their paintings. I have seen the picture twice when visiting the Louvre in Paris. It is a place you need to see at least once in your life 
The illegitimate son however strived for so much more – or maybe it was just part of his nature. He made great works within the field of botany, geology and even cartography. He made accurate maps – town plans and he even produced a map of the Chiana Valley in Tuscany without the use of modern equipment, he simply paced the distances.KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid…
His abilities within the field of cartography even earned him the job as a military engineer and architect. One could argue that is quite the opposite end of the scale considering he also painted the Last Supper. Still he actually designed an early version of a tank. He designed something that was an early version of a diving suit. A suit that was since built and tested some 500 years later.
There is so much more to tell but I will leave you with just a few more of his inventions. A helicopter or something that would at least look like an early version of one. The parachute and well then he worked intensively with hydraulics, gears and came up with a plan for a movable dyke to protect Venice from invaders.
Leonardo da Vinci will forever remain an inspiration for millions and by reading this I hope that I have inspired you to try even harder. I hope that I have inspired you to face the risk of failing because I know that only by facing that risk - by just doing it – eventually you will succeed.
If Leonardo da Vinci or I have not convinced you then let me pass the word on to someone else who has inspired millions even though in a different way. Take a second and listen to one of the greatest athletes of our time – Michael Jordan…
Keep trying – just do it..succeed
Love
H. Gene
