James Russell Lowell Quotes on Originality
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Though old the thought and oft expressed, 'Tis his at last who says it best.
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How little inventiveness there is in man, Grave copier of copies, I give thanks For a new relish, careless to inquire My pleasure's pedigree, if so it please, Nobly, I mean, nor renegade to art. The Grecian gluts me with its perfectness, Unanswerable as Euclid, self-contained, The one thing finished in this hasty world, Forever finished, though the barbarous pit, Fanatical on hearsay, stamp and shout As if a miracle could be encored.
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Nature, they say, doth dote, And cannot make a man Save on some worn-out plan, Repeating us by rote.