A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great.

A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great.

The man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.

The man with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.

What a good thing Adam had--when he said a good thing, he knew nobody had said it before.

What a good thing Adam had--when he said a good thing, he knew nobody had said it before.

Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar.

Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar.

All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think read more

All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.

Utter originality is, of course, out of the question.

Utter originality is, of course, out of the question.

What moves those of genius, what inspires their work is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that read more

What moves those of genius, what inspires their work is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.

When people are fee to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced, and read more

When people are fee to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. Originality is deliberate and forced, and partakes of the nature of a protest.

Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good.

Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good.