Six Moral Maxims in Red Chalk
Sentences on self-mastery, prudence, and counsel
A page written entirely in red chalk carrying six short moral maxims, with no drawing. They range over restraint of appetite, the dominion of the self, the folly of thoughtless action, the ease of resisting at the start rather than the end, and the value of loyal counsel. The sayings belong to the vein of aphorisms and sententiae that Leonardo gathered in this pocketbook.
On this page
Maxims on self-command and prudent counsel
The sequence opens by warning that whoever does not curb his lust keeps company with the beasts, and that no dominion is greater or smaller than that over oneself. It continues that he who thinks little errs greatly, and that one resists more easily at the beginning than at the end. It closes with sayings on the loyalty of counsel given in peril and the danger of behaving like a youth in one's own counsel.