#imitation

But once an original book has been written-and no more than one or two appear in a century-men of letters imitate it, in other words, they copy it so that hundreds of thousands of books are published on exactly the same theme, with slightly different titles and modified phraseology. This should be able to be achieved by apes, who are essentially imitators, provided, of course, that they are able to make use of language. ↗

— Pierre Boulle

#books #imitation #language #theme #writing

A prudent man will always try to follow in the footsteps of great men and imitate those who have been truly outstanding, so that, if he is not quite as skillful as they, at least some of their ability may rub off on him. ↗

— Niccolò Machiavelli

#greatness #imitation #learning #men

I should like to be remembered as the man who raised a voice against... placing limitations on the freedom of the individual. ↗

— Dennis Chavez

#freedom #i #individual #like #limitations

Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again. ↗

— James Cook

#attention #just #limitations #never #once

Human rights' are a fine thing, but how can we make ourselves sure that our rights do not expand at the expense of the rights of others. A society with unlimited rights is incapable of standing to adversity. If we do not wish to be ruled by a coercive authority, then each of us must rein himself in...A stable society is achieved not by balancing opposing forces but by conscious self-limitation: by the principle that we are always duty-bound to defer to the sense of moral justice. ↗

— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

#human-rights #limitations #personal-autonomy #personal-responsibility #freedom

In the game of life, we all receive a set of variables and limitations in the field of play. We can either focus on the lack thereof or empower ourselves to create better realities with the pieces we play the game with. ↗

— T.F. Hodge

#effort #empowerment #focus #games #life

When we see someone or something as imperfect, it is a reflection of our limitations, not theirs. ↗

— Steve Maraboli

#happiness #imperfect #life #limitations #perception

I used to think it was good to kind of work within your limitations. ↗

— Beth Orton

#i #kind #limitations #think #used

Imitation is not inspiration, and inspiration only can give birth to a work of art. The least of man's original emanation is better than the best of borrowed thought. ↗

— Albert Pinkham Ryder

#emanation #imitation #inspiration #art

When we argue for our limitations, we get to keep them. ↗

— Evelyn Waugh

#get #keep #limitations #our #them