Austin Kleon

First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing

French writer André Gide put it, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

The artist is a collector.

“Art is theft.”

—Pablo Picasso

“What is originality? Undetected plagiarism.”

—William Ralph Inge

Study everything there is to know about that thinker. Then find three people that thinker loved, and find out everything about them. Repeat this as many times as you can. Climb up the tree as far as you can go. Once you build your tree, it’s time to start your own branch.

Filmmaker John Waters has said, “Nothing is more important than an unread library.”

“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”

—Howard Aiken

Franz Kafka wrote, “It isn’t necessary that you leave home. Sit at your desk and listen. Don’t even listen, just wait. Don’t wait, be still and alone. The whole world will offer itself to you.” And Kafka was born a century before the Internet!

I’m a boring guy with a nine-to-five job who lives in a quiet neighborhood with his wife and his dog. That whole romantic image of the creative genius doing drugs and running around and sleeping with everyone is played out. It’s for the superhuman and the people who want to die young. The thing is: It takes a lot of energy to be creative. You don’t have that energy if you waste it on other stuff.