Quotes about imitation

"Imitation is the sincerest form of television."

Allen, Fred A. on imitation   

"You may imitate, but never counterfeit."

Balzac, Honore De on imitation   

"Man is an idiot. He doesn't know how to do anything without copying, without imitating, without plagiarizing, without aping. It might even have been that man invented generation by coitus after seeing the grasshopper copulate."

Bastos, Augusto Roa on imitation   

"Imitation belittles."

Bovee, Christian Nevell on imitation
3 fans of this quote   

"An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order to be original."

Cocteau, Jean on imitation   

"I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top."

Colby, Frank Moore on imitation   

"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing."

Dali, Salvador on imitation
4 fans of this quote   

"Imitation is suicide."

Emerson, Ralph Waldo on imitation   

"Imitation, if it is not forgery, is a fine thing. It stems from a generous impulse, and a realistic sense of what can and cannot be done."

Fenton, James on imitation   

"To equal a predecessor, one must have twice they worth."

Gracian, Baltasar on imitation   

"One who imitates what is bad always goes beyond his model; while one who imitates what is good always comes up short of it."

Guicciardini, Francesco on imitation   

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

Hoffer, Eric on imitation   

"Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble."

Johnson, Samuel on imitation   

"No man was ever great by imitation."

Johnson, Samuel on imitation   

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."

Jung, Carl on imitation
13 fans of this quote   

"The only good imitations are those that poke fun at bad originals."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on imitation   

"There is only one kind of love, but there are a thousand imitations."

La Rochefoucauld, Francois De on imitation   

"To do the opposite of something is also a form of imitation, namely an imitation of its opposite."

Lichtenberg, Georg C. on imitation   

"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. If his own prowess fails to compare with theirs, at least it has an air of greatness about it. He should behave like those archers who, if they are skilful, when the target seems too distant, know the capabilities of their bow and aim a good deal higher than their objective, not in order to shoot so high but so that by aiming high they can reach the target."

Machiavelli, Niccolo on imitation
3 fans of this quote   

"To be as good as our fathers we must be better, imitation is not discipleship"

Phillips, Wendell on imitation   

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"To copy others is necessary, but to copy oneself is pathetic."

Picasso, Pablo on imitation
6 fans of this quote   

"Artistic genius is an expansion of monkey imitativeness."

Reade, W. Winwood on imitation   

"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."

Sade, Marquis De on imitation   

"Posterity weaves no garlands for imitators."

Schiller, Johann Friedrich Von on imitation   

"We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people."

Schopenhauer, Arthur on imitation   

"It is well to respect the leader. Learn from him. Observe him. Study him. But don't worship him. Believe you can surpass. Believe you can go beyond. Those who harbor the second-best attitude are invariably second-best doers."

Schwartz, David J. on imitation   

"Whatever is well said by another, is mine."

Seneca on imitation   

"Simplicity of all things is the hardest to be copy."

Steele, Sir Richard on imitation   

"Nature is commonplace. Imitation is more interesting."

Stein, Gertrude on imitation   

"He who never walks except where he sees other men's tracks will make no discoveries."

Unknown, Source on imitation
3 fans of this quote