The inventor had a particular vision of human psychology marked by his practical ethics and morals, products of 15th-century Florence.
Leonardo da Vinci, inventive genius: “You may criticize a friend in confidence, but you must praise him in front of others”
Leonardo da Vinci was everything. He is described as a polymath, someone versed in several branches of science, the arts and the humanities, but he was far more than a label: he was an anatomist, architect, paleontologist, botanist, writer, sculptor, philosopher, engineer, inventor, musician, poet and urban planner. It may not count as a profession, but above all, the Florentine was a true genius.
As the saying goes, a good tree offers good shelter. The same holds true of people. That is why it is worth revisiting Leonardo’s words from time to time: his observations remain relevant and have lost none of their resonance. “You may criticize a friend in private, but you should praise him in front of others,” he once said. Although he used different words, and the version reproduced here is a modern formulation, the underlying thought perfectly captures both his moral outlook and a valuable lesson for life.
A time traveler trapped in his own present
Leonardo was not a systematic moral philosopher like Aristotle. Instead, he practiced an ethics grounded in the observation of human nature, the importance of experience and prudence as a central virtue. For the Florentine, people lived within social relationships shaped by honor, fame and shame, all of which, as readers can imagine, had real consequences. Hence the idea of correcting someone in private and praising them in public; hence his reference to “doing good effectively.” The same philosophy could be practiced today.
All of this has a context. In 15th-century Italy, which did not yet exist as a unified country, reputation was essential to an everyday life played out in public spaces. For Leonardo, who depended on the patronage of princes and wealthy benefactors, the need to observe social conventions was even more apparent: criticizing someone in public was not only a moral failing but also a serious political and social misstep. The phrase quoted above, advice any well-meaning friend might offer today, goes beyond a friendly recommendation: it reflects the Renaissance ethics of honor.
Readers who look beneath the surface of the phrase will see that Leonardo had a particular understanding of human psychology: people learn better without humiliation, because wounded pride breeds resistance rather than virtue, while public recognition reinforces positive behavior. That was true in the 15th century, but the observation applies just as readily today. Because Leonardo was not only a polymath. He was a time traveler trapped in his own present.
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