I have thus played the sedulous ape to Hazlitt, to Lamb, to Wordsworth, to Sir Thomas Browne, to Defoe, to Hawthorne, to Montaigne, to Baudelaire and to Obermann.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The author admits to imitating many great writers in his own work.
- In plain terms
- I copied many writers like Hazlitt and Montaigne in my work.
- What can you take from it?
- Learning often involves copying masters before finding your own voice.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who influenced your style?
- How do you learn new skills?
Another view
Excessive imitation can prevent developing an original style.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
Am I no a bonny fighter?
Permalink to quote #8 Youth is wholly experimental.
Permalink to quote #10 In every part and corner of our life, to lose oneself is to be a gainer; to forget oneself is to be happy.
Permalink to quote #7
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