Originality is merely an illusion.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Originality may be perceived rather than real, suggesting all ideas build on existing ones.
- In plain terms
- Nothing is truly new; everything borrows from the past.
- What can you take from it?
- Build on existing ideas instead of chasing false originality.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is anything truly new?
- How much is borrowed?
Another view
Some breakthroughs genuinely break from prior work.
More from M. C. Escher
Only those who attempt the absurd... will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... Let me go upstairs and check.
Permalink to quote #29 Talent and all that are really for the most part just baloney. Any schoolboy with a little aptitude can perhaps draw better than I; but what he lacks in most c…
Permalink to quote #31 I try in my prints to testify that we live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms, even though that is how it sometimes appears. My sub…
Permalink to quote #28
Related quotes
There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were e…
Henri MatisseHenri Matisse quote #5 'Good composers don't borrow, they steal'
Igor StravinskyIgor Stravinsky quote #18 Without wonder and insight, acting is just a trade. With it, it becomes creation.
Bette DavisBette Davis quote #69