The authour who imitates his predecessors only by furnishing himself with thoughts and elegances out of the same general magazine of literature, can with little more propriety be reproached as a plagiary, than the architect can be censured as a mean copier of Angelo or Wren, because he digs his marble out of the same quarry, squares his stones by the same art, and unites them in columns of the same orders.
Interpretation
Imitating successful figures can lead to accusations of plagiarism, even if the imitation involves the same foundational elements.
In this quote, Samuel Johnson argues that using established literary and artistic techniques does not necessarily constitute imitation or plagiarism. Just as an architect derives materials and methods from historical greats like Michelangelo or Christopher Wren without being condemned for copying, an author can draw from the same literary traditions without losing originality, as long as they create something uniquely their own.
In practice
In a presentation about creativity in art, you might reference this quote to illustrate the balance between inspiration and originality.
To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences, and asks why books are written which cannot be understood.
To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.
Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.
When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
I have no interest in ever coming out. I’m just trying to make the pictures look good; I’m not into trying to make myself look good. And besides, it’s a pretty safe bet that the reality of me would be a crushing disappointment to a couple of 15-year-old kids out there.
For me, the most difficult piece is the one I'm about to make.
As music becomes less of a thing--a cylinder, a cassette, a disc--and more ephemeral, perhaps we will begin to assign an increasing value to live performances again.
Art lives on constraint and dies of freedom.
Original thought, original artistic expression is by its very nature questioning, irreverent, iconoclastic.
You know, I would say that songwriting is something about the expression of the heart, the intellect and the soul.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.