Quotes: Marcel Duchamp

"Art is a game between all people of all periods."

–– Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), French conceptual artist 

Quotes: David Bowie

"The only art I'll ever study is stuff that I can steal from." 

–– David Bowie (1947-2016), English musician and actor

Source: Austin Kleon. Steal Like an Artist. 2012, p. 6. 

via: Aboveground Art Supplies 2020 Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022, p. 13.

Quotes: Chilly Gonzales

"If you can steal without getting caught, then you've pulled off the perfect crime –– which is what an artist is supposed to do. You're not meant to come up with new things as an artist; no artist would say that's what they do. It's all about taking your influences and hopefully filtering them through a personal viewpoint." 

–– Chilly Gonzales, stage-name for Jason Charles Beck, (b. 1972), Canadian musician, songwriter, producer. 

Source: Austin Kleon, October 2018. 

via: Sketchbook 30, 2018, p. 96. 

Black History quotes: Ella Fitzgerald

"I stole everything I ever heard, but mostly I stole from the horns." 

–– Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), American Jazz singer

Quotes 371: T.S. Eliot

"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal."

 –– T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), American-born British author 

via Sketchbook 11, 2010, p. 21

Quotes: Jarmusch Golden Rule #5

"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.”"

-- Jim Jarmusch,  American film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor, and composer