Leonardo da Vinci — "The value of a thing is in its use."
The value of a thing is in its use.
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More from Leonardo da Vinci
"Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in."
"The eye, which is called the window of the soul, is the principal means by which the understanding can most completely and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature."
"The greatest good is that which is desired by all."
"Oh! how many are the times that I have been deceived!"
"He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Worth isn't inherent or abstract — it's determined by practical application. Something beautiful but unused is worthless; something plain but functional is valuable. It's a utilitarian philosophy: ideas, tools, knowledge, even art derive meaning only through deployment in the real world. Value isn't assigned by possession or appearance, but by what a thing actually does or enables.
Relevance to Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo lived this belief. His notebooks — filled with designs for flying machines, hydraulic systems, war engines, and anatomical studies — were obsessively practical. He dissected corpses not for shock but to understand how muscles function. His paintings solved problems of perspective and light. Even his art was instrumental: The Last Supper engineered to manipulate viewer sight lines. He despised idle theory, calling himself a man without letters who learned from experience.
The era
Leonardo worked during the Italian Renaissance, late 15th to early 16th century, when Europe was transitioning from scholasticism — where truth came from ancient texts — to empirical observation. The printing press had just democratized knowledge. Merchants, guilds, and city-states competed through practical innovation: better weapons, ships, infrastructure. Humanist thinkers began measuring worth by earthly achievement rather than divine revelation. Leonardo's pragmatic view of value as use was both radical and timely.
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