Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.

Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.

What a good thing Adam had--when he said a good thing, he knew nobody had said it before.

What a good thing Adam had--when he said a good thing, he knew nobody had said it before.

You've gotta be original, because if you're like someone else, what do they need you for?

You've gotta be original, because if you're like someone else, what do they need you for?

Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good.

Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good.

All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think read more

All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience.

The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first read more

The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot.

The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity. The believing man is the original man; whatsoever he believes, read more

The merit of originality is not novelty; it is sincerity. The believing man is the original man; whatsoever he believes, he believes it for himself, not for another.

Original thought is like original sin: both happened before you were born to people you could not have possibly met.

Original thought is like original sin: both happened before you were born to people you could not have possibly met.

Originality is the one thing which unoriginal minds cannot feel the use of.

Originality is the one thing which unoriginal minds cannot feel the use of.