You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. - Austin Kleon

You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life.

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
shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your
soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.

There’s an economic theory out there that if you take the incomes of your five closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income.

Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough,” writes author Alain de Botton.