The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity.

The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity.

The thing that makes a creative person is to be creative and that is all there is to it.

The thing that makes a creative person is to be creative and that is all there is to it.

Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.

Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.

It's been very important throughout my career that I've met all the guys I've copied, because at each stage they've read more

It's been very important throughout my career that I've met all the guys I've copied, because at each stage they've said, "Don't play like me, play like you.".

We try not to have ideas, preferring accidents. To create, you must empty yourself of every artistic thought.

We try not to have ideas, preferring accidents. To create, you must empty yourself of every artistic thought.

... not picked from the leaves of any author, but bred amongst the weeds and tares of mine own brain.

... not picked from the leaves of any author, but bred amongst the weeds and tares of mine own brain.

First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my read more

First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.

The deepest experience of the creator is feminine, for it is experience of receiving and bearing. - Letters of Rainer read more

The deepest experience of the creator is feminine, for it is experience of receiving and bearing. - Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke.

Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.

Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing.