"Derivative writers seem versatile because they imitate many others, past and present. Artistic originality has only itself to copy."
Originality quotes
Originality
204 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Originality quotes (page 4 of 11)
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"It is sometimes necessary to repeat what all know. All mapmakers should place the Mississippi in the same location and avoid originality."
"Everything which one invents is true, be sure of it."
"I pretend no originality in observing that mass education was motivated in part by the perceived need to "educate them to keep them from our throats," to borrow Ralph Waldo Emerson's parody of elite fears that inspired early advocates of public mass education."
"The incompatibility of aquacity with the erratic originality of genius."
"Why will we be imposed on by antiquity?"
"That one tickled. If electrocution is your way of flirting, I commend you on your originality."
"The actual breakthrough in the privacy of the studio, when one dares to apply paint in a new manner, is a solitary thrill, dependent upon no one else."