The diligence of Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was an outstanding painter in Italy during the European Renaissance. He loved painting from childhood, and his father sent him to Florence, to a famous painter, to learn the art. The teacher taught him to paint eggs in the first class to teach him diligence. He drew one after another for more than 10 days, but the teacher still made him paint eggs. Da Vinci couldn’t understand it, so he asked the teacher: “Why do you always have me paint eggs?”
The teacher told him: “Even though eggs are ordinary, they are not absolutely identical. Even the same egg, when the viewing angle is different, the light cast will be different. For example, raising your head higher or lowering your eyes to see, the elliptical outline will be different. Therefore, painting eggs is a basic skill, and the basic skill must be practiced regularly.”
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From then on, Da Vinci worked hard to practice the necessary skills, painting eggs every day. Year after year, the draft papers he used to paint eggs piled up high. After a long period of diligent practice, he finally created many famous paintings and became a master.
A good heart and kindness are indispensable
A female college student, who was about to graduate, submitted her resumé to the local hospital. On the way home, she happened to see an 80-year-old man riding a tricycle on the path and falling to the ground after having an accident with his tricycle. So out of kindness, she rushed to pick up the fallen tricycle and took out the cushions from her car to provide a pillow for the older man.
She said: “The older man said that he was dizzy. There was no skin trauma so it may have been caused by high blood pressure. Because I had an internship in the hospital and encountered some emergencies, I could only rely on experience to determine what to do, as there was no equipment on hand.”
Subsequently, more and more people came to watch. Some people called the emergency number for help, and some helped contact the older man’s family members. All the while, the girl kept kneeling on the ground to communicate with the older man and encourage him. After the ambulance took the older man away, she left, feeling at ease.
Her kindness was rewarded
It happened that the director of the hospital she applied for also paid attention to her act of kindness. He said: “If this girl comes to our hospital to apply for a job, she will not have to take an exam, and I will hire her directly.” He commented: “With such good character, why worry about not doing anything at work?”
As soon as the news was published, a newspaper commented: “The exceptional admission is marvelous! Being admitted directly to the hospital to save people revealed the importance of ‘character,’ upholding morality, and emphasizing personality.”
Translated by Joseph Wu and edited by Helen
