Art is theft”) and Igor Stravinsky (“Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal”), I’ve always stolen from the people I admire – not plagiarized, mind you, but stolen bits of ideas and stylistic influences. If you steal widely enough, after all, your models are inevitably changed and the result is in the end completely yours. Kleon cites André Gide to this point, in a quotation I love: “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.
Austin KleonYou can’t be content with mastery; you have to push yourself to become a student again.
Austin KleonDig into almost every overnight success story and you’ll find about a decade’s worth of hard work and perseverance.
Austin Kleon