--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Creativity often consists of merely…" description: "\"Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there.\" — Bernice Fitz-Gibbon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_creativity_creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turn_705287.png" --- # Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is… ![“Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there.” quote by Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_creativity_creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turn_705287.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_creativity_creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turn_705287.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_creativity_creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turn_705287.png) > “Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there.” [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creativity often involves recognizing and using existing ideas rather than inventing entirely new ones. **In simple terms:** Creativity is reusing what exists. Key Takeaway Embrace existing resources. Themes creativity innovation resourcefulness Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - design - writing - problem solving - entrepreneurship Key Concepts idea recombination creative process Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance originality with adaptation? - When is recombination more effective than invention? A Different Perspective May undervalue original breakthroughs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there-2/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [The highest level of creativity consists in being, not doing. When the being is intense enough, when the words are spoken enough, when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-highest-level-of-creativity-consists-in-being-not-doing-when-the/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [The highest level of creativity consists in being, not doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-highest-level-of-creativity-consists-in-being-not-doing/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [“Creativity consists of coming up with many ideas, not just that one great idea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-thompson/creativity-consists-of-coming-up-with-many-ideas-not-just-that-one/) Charles Thompson > [Creativity consists in maintaining a key aspect of the experience of childhood throughout one's life: the capacity to create and recreate the world. Creativity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-woods-winnicott/creativity-consists-in-maintaining-a-key-aspect-of-the-experience-of/) [Donald Woods Winnicott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-woods-winnicott/) > [Regret is not a proactive feeling. It is situated in disappointment, sorrow, even remorse. It merely wishes things were different without an act to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-johnson/regret-is-not-a-proactive-feeling-it-is-situated-in-disappointment/) [Monica Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-johnson/) > [For children, diversity needs to be real and not merely relegated to learning the names of the usual suspects during Black History Month or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/for-children-diversity-needs-to-be-real-and-not-merely-relegated-to/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [Would you rather have butter or guns? Preparedness makes us powerful. Butter merely makes us fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-goering/would-you-rather-have-butter-or-guns-preparedness-makes-us-powerful/) [Hermann Goering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-goering/) > [Every man must have the right fearlessly to think independently and express his opinion about what he knows, what he has personally thought about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mstislav-rostropovich/every-man-must-have-the-right-fearlessly-to-think-independently-and/) [Mstislav Rostropovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mstislav-rostropovich/) > [The whole of a human being is merely a vertebra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenz-oken/the-whole-of-a-human-being-is-merely-a-vertebra/) [Lorenz Oken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenz-oken/) > [Most men, when they think they are thinking, are merely rearranging their prejudices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knute-rockne/most-men-when-they-think-they-are-thinking-are-merely-rearranging/) [Knute Rockne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/knute-rockne/) > [Love is merely a madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-is-merely-a-madness/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you are in love with someone, a kiss is merely a way of expressing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-cassandra/if-you-are-in-love-with-someone-a-kiss-is-merely-a-way-of-expressing/) [Regina Cassandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-cassandra/) > [Pro-lifers have long been castigated for bringing private values into the public square. But actually it is the pro-abortion position that is based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pearcey/pro-lifers-have-long-been-castigated-for-bringing-private-values-into/) [Nancy Pearcey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pearcey/) > [I have to declare in all candor that no one interested in being published in our time can afford to be so naive as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-curtis/i-have-to-declare-in-all-candor-that-no-one-interested-in-being/) [Richard Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-curtis/) ## More by Bernice Fitz-Gibbon > [Of course advertising creates wants. Of course it makes people discontented, dissatisfied. Satisfaction with things as they are would defeat the American Dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/of-course-advertising-creates-wants-of-course-it-makes-people/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [It's smart to be thrifty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/it-s-smart-to-be-thrifty/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there-2/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [To be a success in advertising you must want to fill other people with a passion for possession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/to-be-a-success-in-advertising-you-must-want-to-fill-other-people/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Advertising prods people into wanting more and better things. Of course advertising makes people dissatisfied with what they have - makes them raise their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/advertising-prods-people-into-wanting-more-and-better-things-of/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [A good ad should be like a good sermon: It must not only comfort the afflicted, it also must afflict the comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/a-good-ad-should-be-like-a-good-sermon-it-must-not-only-comfort-the/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [deferring gratification is a good definition of being civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/deferring-gratification-is-a-good-definition-of-being-civilized/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Teenagers travel in droves, packs, swarms. ... To the librarian, they're a gaggle of geese. To the cook, they're a scourge of locusts. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/teenagers-travel-in-droves-packs-swarms-to-the-librarian-they-re-a/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) > [Creativity varies inversely with the number of cooks involved in the broth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-varies-inversely-with-the-number-of-cooks-involved-in-the/) [Bernice Fitz-Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) [Explore all 10 Bernice Fitz-Gibbon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/) ## More Creativity quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“The Soviet “creative intelligentsia” - that is, people accustomed to thinking one thing, saying another and doing a third - is as a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-amalrik/the-soviet-creative-intelligentsia-that-is-people-accustomed-to/) Andrei Amalrik > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [You don't get lucky. You create lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/you-don-t-get-lucky-you-create-lucky/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“You are the end of beauty and creativity one must have created so far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/you-are-the-end-of-beauty-and-creativity-one-must-have-created-so-far/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [Creativity is like chasing chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christoph-niemann/creativity-is-like-chasing-chickens/) Christoph Niemann > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [Create an environment for people to fail, to learn, and to grow. Their creativity and productivity will increase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/create-an-environment-for-people-to-fail-to-learn-and-to-grow-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 13,625 Creativity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bernice Fitz-Gibbon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creativity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_creativity_creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turn_705287.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_creativity_creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turn_705287.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/931/bernice-fitz-gibbon-42024_creativity_creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turn_705287.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there.” — Bernice Fitz-Gibbon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bernice Fitz-Gibbon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernice-fitz-gibbon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Creativity often consists of merely turning...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernice-fitz-gibbon/creativity-often-consists-of-merely-turning-up-what-is-already-there/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```