"katysails" wrote in message
...

Shouldn't he be above plagiarism? (snort)


".....substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously
drawn from a million outside sources, and daily used by the garnerer with a
pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them;
whereas there is not a rag of originality about them anywhere except the
little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his
temperament, which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing. . . . It
takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a
phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone, or any other Important thing--
and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his
little mite--that is all he did.
In 1886 I read Dr. Holmes's poems, in the Sandwich Islands. A year and a
half later I stole his dedication, without knowing it, and used it to
dedicate my "Innocents Abroad" with. Ten years afterward I was talking with
Dr. Holmes about it. He was not an ignorant ass--no, not he; . . . and so
when I said, "I know now where I stole, but who did you steal it from?" he
said, "I don't remember; I only know I stole it from somebody, because I
have never originated anything altogether myself, nor met anybody who had."

Mark Twain in a letter to Letter to Anne Macy. Reprinted in Anne Sullivan
Macy, The Story Behind Helen Keller (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran,
and Co., 1933), p.162.


Satisfied now?

BC

Bob,
Remember it's not only for giving credit that we cite sources. The reader
may find your excerpt so fascinating that s/he will want more. In that
regard, citing is a courtesy to your reader.
I didn't do it in this thread, so don't follow my poor example.
Scout

"Bob Crantz" wrote in message
ink.net...

"katysails" wrote in message
...

Shouldn't he be above plagiarism? (snort)


".....substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and
unconsciously
drawn from a million outside sources, and daily used by the garnerer with
a
pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them;
whereas there is not a rag of originality about them anywhere except the
little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his
temperament, which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing. . . . It
takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a
phonograph, or a photograph, or a telephone, or any other Important
thing--
and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his
little mite--that is all he did.
In 1886 I read Dr. Holmes's poems, in the Sandwich Islands. A year and a
half later I stole his dedication, without knowing it, and used it to
dedicate my "Innocents Abroad" with. Ten years afterward I was talking
with
Dr. Holmes about it. He was not an ignorant ass--no, not he; . . . and so
when I said, "I know now where I stole, but who did you steal it from?" he
said, "I don't remember; I only know I stole it from somebody, because I
have never originated anything altogether myself, nor met anybody who
had."

Mark Twain in a letter to Letter to Anne Macy. Reprinted in Anne Sullivan
Macy, The Story Behind Helen Keller (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran,
and Co., 1933), p.162.


Satisfied now?

BC

Satisfied now?

Thank you...must uphold the proprieties, ya know....
--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein



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