The writer Wilson Mizner said if you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research. I once heard the cartoonist Gar… - Austin Kleon

If you have one person you’re influenced by, everyone will say you’re the next whoever. But if you rip off a hundred people, everyone will say you're so original.

The writer Wilson Mizner said if you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.

I once heard the cartoonist Gary Panter say, “If you have one person you’re influenced by, everyone will say you’re the next whoever. But if you rip off a hundred people, everyone will say you’re so original!

If you have one person you’re influenced by, everyone will say you’re the next whoever. But if you rip off a hundred people, everyone will say you’re so original!

Wilson Mizner said if you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.

Don’t be creepy. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t waste people’s time. Don’t ask too much.

The trick is to find a day job that pays decently, doesn’t make you want to vomit, and leaves you with enough energy to make things in your spare time. Good day jobs aren’t necessarily easy to find, but they’re out there.

if you read old books, you get to add all the years the author lived onto your own life.