T. S. Eliot Stealing Quotations

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.

Good poets borrow, great poets steal

One of the surest tests of the superiority or inferiority of a poet is the way in which a poet borrows. Immature poets imitate mature poets steal bad poets deface what they take and good poets make it into something better or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique utterly different than that from which it is torn the bad poet throws it into something which has no cohesion. A good poet will usually borrow from authors remote in time or alien in language or diverse in interest.

Bad poets imitate, good poets steal.

Talent imitates, genius steals.

Mediocre writers borrow; great writers steal.

Talent imitates, but genius steals.