Fine words! I wonder where you stole 'em.
[Lat., Libertas et natale solum.]

Fine words! I wonder where you stole 'em.
[Lat., Libertas et natale solum.]

They had their lean books with the fat of others' works.

They had their lean books with the fat of others' works.

Why, simpleton, do you mix your verses with mine? What have you
to do, foolish man, with writings that read more

Why, simpleton, do you mix your verses with mine? What have you
to do, foolish man, with writings that convict you of theft? Why
do you attempt to associate foxes with lions, and make owls pass
for eagles? Though you had one of Ladas's legs, you would not be
able, blockhead, to run with the other leg of wood.

Because they commonly make use of treasure found in books, as of
other treasure belonging to the dead and read more

Because they commonly make use of treasure found in books, as of
other treasure belonging to the dead and hidden underground; for
they dispose of both with great secrecy, defacing the shape and
image of the one as much as of the other.

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.

When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre,
He'd 'eard men sing by land an' sea;
An' what he read more

When 'Omer smote 'is bloomin' lyre,
He'd 'eard men sing by land an' sea;
An' what he thought 'e might require,
'E went an' took--the same as me.

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.]

It has come to be practically a sort of rule in literature, that
a man, having once shown himself read more

It has come to be practically a sort of rule in literature, that
a man, having once shown himself capable of original writing, is
entitled thenceforth to steal from the writings of others at
discretion.

My books need no one to accuse or judge you: the page which is
yours stands up against you read more

My books need no one to accuse or judge you: the page which is
yours stands up against you and says, "You are a thief."