‘Nothing is original’

An interesting quote by Jim Jarmusch (taken from The Golden Rules of Filming) that I ran across yesterday after seeing The Limits of Control:

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to.”

Why do I blog this? collecting quotes about circulation of ideas in different cultural spheres is an interesting exercise (and somewhat related to the discussion about the very existence of “breakthrough/disruptive” innovation).

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 at 11:06 am and is filed under circulation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “‘Nothing is original’”

  1. Definizione di creatività | Tiragraffi Says:
    January 2nd, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    […] via Nothing is original ~ via bookcafe.net ~ immagine istockphoto.com […]

  2. Ronald Lenz Says:
    January 3rd, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    I agree with the statement and associate it with Creative Commons which makes me wonder if Jarmusch applies CC to his work…

  3. Kimmy Says:
    February 22nd, 2010 at 2:04 am

    Beautiful quote :)… I may steal it for my blog for university! I was thinking similar things earlier today, so it’s weird to stumble across this.

    I like how you end your blogs with “Why do I blog this?” I think I may start doing that too… good for reflection.

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