Nothing is completely original.Īs the French writer André Gide put it, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. All creative work builds on what came before. What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. The writer Jonathan Lethem has said that when people call something “original,” nine out of ten times they just don’t know the references or the original sources involved. “The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from.” - David Bowie If you don’t find something worth stealing today, you might find it worth stealing tomorrow or a month or a year from now. When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s “good” and what’s “bad”-there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing. How does an artist look at the world? First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing. Steal Like an ArtistĮvery artist gets asked the question, “Where do you get your ideas?” The honest artist answers, “I steal them.” Note: The following are excerpts from Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon. If you enjoy this summary, please consider buying me a coffee to caffeinate my reading sessions. Learn more about Steal Like An Artist on Amazon.
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