Top 100 Quotes About Originality
#1. To contest an author's right to create a poetic or realistic work is to want to force him to change his temperament, challenge his originality, refuse to allow him to use the eye and the intelligence nature has given him.
Guy De Maupassant
#2. The thing that I was brought up to prize above everything else is the intellect. There is no problem that the intellect cannot solve, but it never had an original thought. Originality is the realm of the unconscious.
Alan Garner
#3. Do not shun this maxim because it is common-place. On the contrary, take the closest heed of what observant men, who would probably like to show originality, are yet constrained to repeat. Therein lies the marrow of the wisdom of the world.
Arthur Helps
#4. Some people say I was very brave, but I really just didn't know any better. All I had was my originality.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
#5. This has been done by masters of the trade and Garcia had taken in every stock situation with amazing powers of retention, but he had not put things together right and had used extraordinary discernment in not adding one single touch of originality.
Felipe Alfau
#6. Knowing how to paint and to use one's colors rightly has not any connection with originality. This originality consists in properly expressing your own impressions.
Thomas Couture
#7. Vanity is the fear of appearing original: it is thus a lack of pride, but not necessarily a lack of originality.
Friedrich Nietzsche
#8. I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that. But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.
Conan O'Brien
#9. Originality houses many rooms, and the views from the windows are all different.
Guy Davenport
#10. I sang a song in Hindi; nobody even knew what that was. Singing about Native American issues, nobody did that. I had no reason to want to copy anybody else. All I had was my originality.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
#11. Man, or at least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from boarding-schools.
Arthur Conan Doyle
#13. After some time passed in studying - and even imitating - the works of others, I would recommend the student to endeavour to be original, and to remember that originality should not be undiscovered plagiarism.
Henry Peach Robinson
#14. For me, the arts are just an endless source of intelligence, brilliance, imagination, and originality.
Gail Levin
#15. Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit.
Ansel Adams
#16. Creativity, which is the expression of our originality, helps us stay mindful that what we bring to the world is completely original and cannot be compared.
Brene Brown
#17. Originality, of course, is what occurs when something new arises out of what's already been done.
Stephen Dunn
#18. The greatest shapers don't stop at introducing originality into the world. They create cultures that unleash originality in others.
Adam M. Grant
#19. Because of this, originality consists in returning to the origin.
Antoni Gaudi
#20. What audiences end up with word-wise is a hackneyed, completely derivative copy of old Hollywood romances, a movie that reeks of phoniness and lacks even minimal originality.
Kenneth Turan
#21. Strive for originality in thought and action. Be first; Be different; And be daring. Only then will you make a significant difference in this world. You may even attain greatness.
Ernie J Zelinski
#22. I think we ought to decide that man-hating is not only respectable but honorable. To be a misandrist a woman needs considerable ingenuity, originality, and resilience. A misogynist requires no such resources.
Joanna Russ
#23. The ethics of plagiarism have turned into the narcissism of small differences: because journalism cannot own up to its heavily derivative nature, it must enforce originality on the level of the sentence.
Malcolm Gladwell
#24. No man who cares about originality will ever be original. It's the man who's only thinking about doing a good job or telling the truth who becomes really original
and doesn't notice it.
C.S. Lewis
#25. Genius implies originality and independence.
Claudia Gray
#26. I no longer find such pleasure in that preeminently good society, of which I was once so fond. It seems to me that beneath a cloak of clever talk it proscribes all energy, all originality. If you are not a copy, people accuse you of being ill-mannered.
Stendhal
#27. Creativity starts with a little touch of insanity and culminates with the highest trust on its beauty, but throughout it maintains the hands of originality,humanity and ALMIGHTY.
Anuj
#28. Translation, an archaic way of silencing, marginalizing or disowning other people's originality, must come to an end.
Thorsten J. Pattberg
#30. Natural beauty is always tiresome. It lacks that careless touch of artifice that is the hallmark of true originality. There is nothing so overdone and vulgar as unspoilt simplicity.
Emily Croy Barker
#31. Eccentricity is originality that leads nowhere.
Mason Cooley
#32. Originality must compound with inheritance.
Harold Bloom
#34. The general advertisers and their agencies know almost nothing for sure, because they cannot measure the results of their advertising. They worship at the altar of creativity, which really means 'originality': The most dangerous word in the lexicon of advertising
David Ogilvy
#35. If I could be really competent, that goes such a long way toward things, because the majority of things are not competent. If I can be competent, and have moments of originality, that's all I would ask for.
Jon Stewart
#36. It is necessary to any originality to have the courage to be an amateur.
Wallace Stevens
#37. Then she waited, with parted lips and a saucy challenge in her eyes, to see how her presence
the drama of being her
was registering. In the way of such chicks, she seemed convinced of the originality of her provocation.
Jonathan Franzen
#38. Originality is when you mix two things that haven't been mixed.
DJ Marlboro
#39. As a rule, I am very careful to be shallow and conventional where depth and originality are wasted.
Lucy Maud Montgomery
#40. The principal mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers.
Arthur Koestler
#41. That one tickled. If electrocution is your way of flirting, I commend you on your originality.
Jeaniene Frost
#42. Credentials have been a problem for a long time in my work. Originality has been my strength, and credentials and academia have not been.
Budd Hopkins
#43. I always try to improve, to find new ways of expressing myself, to keep looking for truth and originality.
Burt Lancaster
#44. Newton expected no money from establishing his originality but rather desired recognition for his excellence.
Tyler Cowen
#45. The human spirit's unquenchable drive for originality and compulsion for creating art is the compelling force of our humanity.
Kilroy J. Oldster
#46. There's not a lot of pretty, young female artists that's out. It's a lot of talent out there, but they don't know how to go about it. I feel like there should be way more sexier women in hip-hop and R&B then it is - more originality.
Tyga
#47. Following a trend is useful, until you start alienating the original. The last thing we want is to live in a world where everything is the same. Originality and individuality is key.
J.S. Strange
#48. Without moving beyond a mere copy, there is no artistry, no originality or artistic advancement; only mechanics.
Jennifer Young
#49. When I came up, it was all about originality and collective research. There is an awful lot of imitation going on now.
Steve Lacy
#50. Why should Cornishmen learn Cornish? There is no money in it, it serves no practical purpose, and the literature is scanty and of no great originality or value. The question is a fair one, the answer is simple. Because they are Cornish.
Henry Jenner
#51. I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called originality and your own voice.
Amy Tan
#52. a good way to make some cash without worrying about boring things like originality or operating capital.
Leonard Richardson
#53. Originality is being different from oneself, not others.
Philip Larkin
#54. Success is no proof of virtue. In the case of a book, quick acclaim is presumptive evidence of a lack of substance and originality.
Walter Kaufmann
#55. The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. Ordinary persons find no difference between men.
Blaise Pascal
#56. [Six principles that make for a good story:] 1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of a political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality: flee the stereotype; 6. compassion.
Anton Chekhov
#57. It is wiser to be conventionally immoral than unconventionally moral. It isn't the immorality they object to, but the originality.
Ellen Glasgow
#58. A good imitation is the most perfect originality
Voltaire
#59. Young men and young women, full of courage, originality, and genius, are everywhere to be met with.
Frank Crowninshield
#60. Reading Claire Cooks novel is like eating some exotic dish about which you say, Wow, this is great! Whats in it? The ingredients here are: intelligence, humor, poignancy, revelation and, perhaps best of all, true originality. Ready to Fall seems to me to be ready to soar.
Elizabeth Berg
#61. this very year last past (supernaturally deficient in originality) rapped out theirs. Mere messages in the earthly order of events had lately come to the English Crown and People, from a congress of British subjects in America: which, strange to relate, have proved more
Charles Dickens
#62. No man who values originality will ever be original. But try to tell the truth as you see it, try to do any bit of work as well as it can be done for the work's sake, and what men call originality will come unsought..
C.S. Lewis
#63. You don't understand!" she exclaimed bitterly.
"That," said his lordship, with a touch of acidity, "is a foolish accusation which lacks even the saving grace of originality! Every generation, my child, has said, or thought, that the preceding one was devoid of understanding or experience.
Georgette Heyer
#64. Originality is not doing something no one else has ever done, but doing what has been done countless times with new life, new breath.
Marie Chapian
#65. Lack of originality, everywhere, all over the world, from time immemorial, has always been considered the foremost quality and the recommendation of the active, efficient and practical man.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
#66. You come to Paris, you get true originality, and it's wonderful.
Andre Leon Talley
#67. Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.
George Lois
#68. Cerebration is the enemy of originality in art.
Martin Ritt
#69. One possible sign of low self-esteem is suppressing parts of yourself so you can fill someone else's expectations of what you should be. You try to fill someone else's (or your own) prescription of perfection, instead of being yourself and embracing your originality.
Robin Meade
#70. You have to question the originality of your life when it can be captured perfectly in the lyrics of a rock song.
Jonathan Tropper
#71. Originality is so hip and cool, but to be original you must dare to be corny.
Bradford Winters
#72. Dissenting opinions are useful even when they're wrong. So instead of speaking to highly agreeable audiences, target suggestions to people with a history of originality.
Adam Grant
#73. An invitation to innovation, Radiant Orchid encourages expanded creativity and originality, which is increasingly valued in today's society.
Leatrice Eiseman
#74. Like the theater, offering food and hospitality to people is a matter of showmanship, and no matter how simple the performance, unless you do it well, with love and originality, you have a flop on your hands.
James Beard
#75. She wanted to surprise everyone by her dash and originality, but she could not help modeling herself on the last person she met, and the confusion of ideals thus produced caused her much perturbation when she had to choose between two courses.
Edith Wharton
#76. Schools stifle family originality by appropriating the critical time needed for any sound idea of family to develop - then they blame the family for its failure to be a family.
John Taylor Gatto
#77. We should imitate the great classics. We would miss, and that miss would be our originality.
Raymond Radiguet
#78. In proportion as our own mind is enlarged we discover a greater number of men of originality. Commonplace people see no difference between one man and another.
Blaise Pascal
#79. Boredom is useful to me when I notice it and think: Oh I'm bored; there must be something else I want to be doing ... boredom acts as an initiator of originality by pushing me into new activities or new thoughts.
Hugh Prather
#80. Every man has a specific skill, whether it is discovered or not, that more readily and naturally comes to him than it would to another, and his own should be sought and polished. He excels best in his niche - originality loses its authenticity in one's efforts to obtain originality.
Criss Jami
#81. Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.
W. H. Auden
#82. Great authors, when they write about causes, adduce not only those they think are true but also those they do not believe in, provided they have some originality and beauty. They speak truly and usefully enough if they speak ingeniously.
Michel De Montaigne
#83. Originality is definitely missing from EDM. There are people looking for it and exploring but I feel it's so big now it is just getting milked. House music is losing all its melody as it becomes more about how dirty the drop is and how energetic it is. It loses touch with what music really is.
Avicii
#84. Originality is a quality that cannot be imitated. The technique of the language, on the other hand, is something that belongs to all who can understand it.
John French Sloan
#85. I believe the structure of 'House of Leaves' is far more difficult to explain than it is to read. And while I'd like to lay claim to some extraordinary act of originality, truth is I'm only taking advantage of capabilities inherent in everyone.
Mark Z. Danielewski
#86. Beware originality. In women fashion originality can lead to carnival.
Coco Chanel
#87. The only way to grab the attention of the audience is originality. We feed ourselves with franchises that's the opposite of what makes our culture multidimensional and interesting.
Ron Perlman
#88. Mistakes are the only universal form of originality.
Mason Cooley
#89. Stick on your originality, yes I know few people will call you a boring person but millions will fall in love with you because of your authenticity.
Euginia Herlihy
#90. True originality consists not in a new manner, but in a new vision.
Edith Wharton
#91. Knowledge comes from the past, so it's safe. It is also out of date. It's the opposite of originality ... Experience is the opposite of being creative.
Paul Arden
#92. Small business people have gotten us out of nearly all modern recessions - not by waiting for others to fix things or turning to government, but rather by applying leadership, inventiveness, creativity and originality.
Oliver DeMille
#93. Originality is no excuse for ignorance.
Fred Brooks
#94. It's the originality of Pauls Toutonghi's voice and vision that makes this such a remarkable novel. Toutonghi is a true daredevil of a writer, and this fantastically hilarious and affecting book will have you on the edge of your seat.
Skip Horack
#95. It is altogether an extraordinary growing, swarming, glittering, pushing, chattering, good-natured, cosmopolitan place, and perhaps in some ways the best imitation of Paris that can be found (with a great originality of its own).
Henry James
#96. I offer originality: you don't know what my films are like until you go to them. I think that's the reason I've been getting all this attention.
M. Night Shyamalan
#97. If anything, it's a little intimidating because there's usually a lot of brilliant work and a lot of brilliant ideas out there that you wish you had thought of, or that you just admire for the originality of it or the difference from what you've been thinking of.
Chris Wedge
#98. It is curiosity, initiative, originality, and the ruthless application of honesty that count in research- much more than feats of logic and memory alone.
Julian Huxley
#99. Anyhow, the older I get, the less impressed I become with originality. These days, I'm far more moved by authenticity. Attempts at originality can often feel forced and precious, but authenticity has quiet resonance that never fails to stir me.
Elizabeth Gilbert
#100. Originality is a thing we constantly clamour for, and constantly quarrel with.
Thomas Carlyle
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