Picasso had a saying - 'good artists copy, great artists steal' - and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that taking inspiration from others is a key part of creativity and innovation.
Walter Isaacson's quote reflects on the idea that while many artists and creators may draw from the work of others, truly great artists take this a step further by assimilating and transforming those ideas into something unique. This 'stealing' of ideas is not about plagiarism, but rather about understanding and reinventing what has already been done, leading to more profound and original expressions of creativity.
In practice
In a speech about innovation at a conference, I might quote this to encourage embracing ideas from various sources.
I visited Jobs for the last time in his Palo Alto, Calif., home. He had moved to a downstairs bedroom because he was too weak to go up and down stairs. He was curled up in some pain, but his mind was still sharp and his humor vibrant
I've always had an abundance of material about the subjects of my biographies.
Polite and velvety leaders, who take care to avoid bruising others, are generally not as effective at forcing change.
for Steve, less is always more, simpler is always better. Therefore, if you can build a glass box with fewer elements, it’s better, it’s simpler, and it’s at the forefront of technology. That’s where Steve likes to be, in both his products and his stores.
What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they’re dragging you down. They’re turning you into Microsoft. They’re causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great.
When there are multiple versions of a story, you really have three ways to go. You can pick the most sensational version. You can try to balance things in your gut to get to what you think is the honest truth. Or you can err on the side of kindness.
The art of writing fiction is to sail as dangerously close to the truth as possible without sinking the ship
The white paintings came first; my silent piece came later.
Acting became more than a profession to me. It became a sort of religion.
The most important thing is you can't write what you wouldn't read for pleasure. It's a mistake to analyze the market thinking you can write whatever is hot. You can't say you're going to write romance when you don't even like it. You need to write what you would read if you expect anybody else to read it.
With all art expression, when something is seen, it is a vivid experience, sudden, compelling, and inevitable.
After my performance 'The Artist is Present (2010)' at MoMA in New York, many scientists became interested in why so many people who sat across from me began to cry. I was incredibly moved by this experience also, and was very curious to know what happens in our brains when we spend time not talking, just looking at one another.
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