Imitating Others Quotes

• The original writer is not he who refrains from imitating others, but he who can be imitated by none.

  François-René de Chateaubriand

  Writing, Editing, Refrain

  Le Genie de Christianisme pt. 2, bk. 1, ch. 3 (1802)

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• Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

  Oscar Wilde

  Being Yourself, Love Yourself, Taken

  Letter to Alfred Douglas, Jan. - Mar. 1897

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• When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

  Eric Hoffer

  Sarcastic, Freedom, Sarcasm

  Passionate State of Mind (1955) p. 21

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• One learns about painting by looking at and imitating other painters.

  Frank Stella

  Painting, Imitation, Painter

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• The human is indissolubly linked with imitation: a human being only becomes human at all by imitating other human beings.

  Theodor Adorno

  Empathy, Imitation, Humans

  Theodor W. Adorno, E. F. N. Jephcott (2005). “Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life”, p.154, Verso

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• Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.

  T. S. Eliot

  Stealing Things, Immature, Different

  1920 The Sacred Wood,'Philip Massinger'.

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• Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.

  T. S. Eliot

  Art, Writing, Reading Poetry

  The Sacred Wood "Philip Massinger" (1920)

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• Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?

  Charles Baudelaire

  Art, Literature, Function

  Charles Baudelaire (1981). “Baudelaire: Selected Writings on Art and Artists”, p.428, CUP Archive

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• Man's natural character is to imitate; that of the sensitive man is to resemble as closely as possible the person whom he loves. It is only by imitating the vices of others that I have earned my misfortunes.

  Marquis de Sade

  Character, Men, Sensitive Man

  Sade (marquis de) (1965). “Selected letters”

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• We simply need to believe in the power that's within us, and use it.

  Benjamin Hoff

  Believe, Needs, Use

  "The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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• Men nearly always follow the tracks made by others and proceed in their affairs by imitation, even though they cannot entirely keep to the tracks of others or emulate the prowess of their models. So a prudent man should always follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been outstanding.

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Men, Track, Prudent

  "Memorable Quotations: Philosophers of Western Civilization". Book by Carol Dingle, p. 144, July 26, 2000.

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• If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Being Yourself, Being Single, Gay

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• We don't need to shift our responsibilities onto the shoulders of some deified Spiritual Superman, or sit around and wait for Fate to come knocking at the door. We simply need to believe in the power that's within us, and use it. When we do that, and stop imitating others and competing against them, things begin to work for us.

  Benjamin Hoff

  Spiritual, Believe, Responsibility

  "The Tao of Pooh". Book by Benjamin Hoff, 1982.

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• One learns about painting by looking at and imitating other painters. I can't stress enough how important it is, if you are interested at all in painting, to look and to look a great deal at painting. There is no other way to find out about painting.

  Frank Stella

  Stress, Important, Looks

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• Unless we learn the lesson of self-appreciation and practice it, we shall spend our lives imitating other people and deprecating ourselves.

  Aida Overton Walker

  Appreciation, Self, Practice

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• Because of jealousy you are in constant suffering; you become mean to others. And because of jealousy you start becoming phony, because you start pretending. You start pretending things that you don't have, you start pretending things which you CAN'T have, which are not natural to you. You become more and more artificial. Imitating others, competing with others, what else can you do? If somebody has something and you don't have it, and you don't have a natural possibility of having it, the only way is to have some cheap substitute for it.

  Rajneesh

  Jealousy, Mean, Suffering

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• My advice to any budding artist is never to be satisfied with imitating others. This is but a means to an end. A serious artist will work with intensity to discover themselves, their own personal vision. I believe this is a fundamental aspect of the creative path.

  Michael Kenna

  Believe, Mean, Artist

  Source: www.smh.com.au

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• An actor is supposed to emulate life. Instead, alas, many are imitating other actors. You don't fashion your knowledge of theatre or your approach to a role on the basis of what other actors have done. This kind of thinking is a great danger, especially in dealing with TV producers who frequently say things like, 'This is a Sean Connery type.'

  Theodore Bikel

  Fashion, Thinking, Theatre

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• I have never been convinced throughout my life that one needs to be imitating others. I even tell my daughters not to look at me as a model.

  Shirin Ebadi

  Daughter, Looks, Needs

  Interview with Amitabh Pal, progressive.org. September 1, 2004.

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• The majority of photographers still seek artistic effects, imitating other mediums of graphic expression. The result is a hybrid product that does not succeed in giving their work the most valuable characteristic it should have, - photographic quality.

  Tina Modotti

  Expression, Should Have, Giving

  Frida Kahlo, Tina Modotti, Whitechapel Art Gallery (1982). “Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti”

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• When I was very young, I started trying to sing like the great tenor Mario Lanza; my family used to play his records. We all learn best by imitating others.

  Andrea Bocelli

  Play, Trying, Records

  "Portrait of the artist: Andrea Bocelli, tenor". Interview with Laura Barnett, www.theguardian.com. November 22, 2010.

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• I have good pronunciation no matter what language I speak. Maybe it’s because my specialties are rapping and imitating others

  G-Dragon

  Rap, Matter, Language

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