Steal Like an Artist

”nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what can before. Nothing is completely original.”

“Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas.” - Austin Kleon

“The artist is a collector. Not a hoarder.” - Austin Kleon

“Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.” - Austin Kleon

“You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else - that’s how you’ll get ahead.” - Austin Kleon

“It’s the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are.” - Austin Kleon

“There’s no pressure when you’re unknown. You can do what you want. Experiment. Do things just for the fun of it. When you’re unknown, there’s nothing to distract you from getting better.” - Austin Kleon

“Get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored - the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.” - Austin Kleon

“Creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s the things we choose to leave out.” - Austin Kleon

“Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use - do the work you want to see done.” - Austin Kleon