Sapere Vedere — Chapter 5 in Aspire
“The eye is the window of the soul.” —Leonardo da Vinci
It has been said, “When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.” Perhaps no one in history personified this better than Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian artist, investor, scientist, and designer who foresaw the future hundreds of yers ahead of his time.
Sapere Vedere meaning
When asked for the secret of his genius, da Vinci would characteristically respond with the phrase he conceived and adopted as his personal motto:
Sapere vedere (pronounced sah-PARE-ay veh-DARE-ay).
The phrase combines the Latin “sapere,” which means knowing how, and “vedere,” which means to see.
Sapere vedere is knowing how to see. It transposes the saying, “Seeing is believing” to “Believing is seeing.”
People with Sapere Vedere Look Forward
People with sapere vadere look forward as well as inward; they are capable of believing and seeing what others don’t. Da Vinci understood that we truly see with our brain first, our heart second, and then our eyes. Knowing how to see, he realized, is crucial to living a life of significance.
People without vision often fixate on the past. They look at what has happened as a hitching post instead of as a guidepost. By letting only hindsight dictate, they ensure that their path will invariably repeat itself. It is a trademark of those with sapere vadere to see not only the past and present but also the future. By focusing on what’s within our heart and mind, and looking ahead, vision pulls us forward.
Read more in Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through The Power of Words