We can say nothing but what hath been said . . . Our poets steal
from Homer . . read more

We can say nothing but what hath been said . . . Our poets steal
from Homer . . . . Our storydressers do as much; he that comes
last is commonly best.

When Shakespeare is charges with debts to his authors, Landor
replies, "Yet he was more original than his originals. read more

When Shakespeare is charges with debts to his authors, Landor
replies, "Yet he was more original than his originals. He
breathed upon dead bodies and brought them into life."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson,

With him most authors steal their works, or buy;
Garth did not write his own Dispensary.

With him most authors steal their works, or buy;
Garth did not write his own Dispensary.

Take the whole range of imaginative literature, and we are all
wholesale borrowers. In every matter that relates to read more

Take the whole range of imaginative literature, and we are all
wholesale borrowers. In every matter that relates to invention,
to use, or beauty or form, we are borrowers.

The Plagiarism of orators is the art, or an ingenious and easy
mode, which some adroitly employ to change, read more

The Plagiarism of orators is the art, or an ingenious and easy
mode, which some adroitly employ to change, or disguise, all
sorts of speeches or their own composition, or that of other
authors, for their pleasure, or their utility; in such a manner
that it becomes impossible even for the author himself to
recognize his own work, his own genius, and his own style, so
skillfully shall the whole be disguised.
- Isaac D'Israeli,

Amongst so many borrowed things, am glad if I can steal one,
disguising and altering it for some new read more

Amongst so many borrowed things, am glad if I can steal one,
disguising and altering it for some new service.

For such kind of borrowing as this, if it be not bettered by the
borrower, among good authors is read more

For such kind of borrowing as this, if it be not bettered by the
borrower, among good authors is accounted plagiary.

To copy others is necessary, but to copy oneself is pathetic

To copy others is necessary, but to copy oneself is pathetic

The bees pillage the flowers here and there but they make honey
of them which is all their own; read more

The bees pillage the flowers here and there but they make honey
of them which is all their own; it is no longer thyme or
marjolaine: so the pieces borrowed from others he will transform
and mix up into a work all his own.
[Fr., Les abeilles pillotent deca dela les fleurs; mais elles en
font aprez le miel, qui est tout leur; ce n'est plus thym, ny
marjolaine: ainsi les pieces empruntees d'aultruy, il les
transformera et confondra pour en faire un ouvrage tout sien.]