Austin Kleon

when people give you advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past

you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing.

Everything is up for grabs

All creative work builds on what came before

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.

Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas.

You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. The German writer Goethe said, “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

artists collect selectively

They only collect things that they really love.

You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with.