"It has come to be practically a..." - Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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.
More by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Commit a crime, and the earth is made of glass.”
“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he/she will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.”
“Let no one honour me with tears, or bury me with lamentation. Why? Because I fly hither and thither, living in the mouths of me.”
More on Literature
“An alliterative prefix served as an ornament of oratory.”
“Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.”
“Life is rather above the measure of us all (save for a very few perhaps). We all need literature that is above our measure--though we may not have sufficient energy for it all the time.”
More on Originality
“In conversation the game is, to say something new with old words. And you shall observe a man of the people picking his way along, step by step, using every time an old boulder, yet never setting his foot on an old place.”
“Originality will be rewarded in any line.”
“We [tend to] have more faith in what we imitate than in what we originate. We [often feel that we] cannot derive a sense of absolute certitude from anything which has its root in us. The most poignant sense of insecurity comes from standing alone; we are not alone when we imitate.”