--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Where did this come from?” I bristle at…" description: "\"“Where did this come from?” I bristle at the question. “I wrote it right in front of you. I didn’t cheat.” “I’m not accusing you of cheating. I’m askin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/brigid-kemmerer-2470_poetry_where-did-this-come-from-i-bristle-at-th_984719.jpg" --- # Where did this come from?” I bristle at the question. “I… ![“Where did this come from?” I bristle at the question. “I wrote it right in front of you. I didn’t cheat.” “I’m not accusing you of cheating. I’m asking why you were able to put together five hundred words about a poem, when I can rarely get more than a compound sentence out of you.” quote by Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/brigid-kemmerer-2470_poetry_where-did-this-come-from-i-bristle-at-th_984719.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/brigid-kemmerer-2470_poetry_where-did-this-come-from-i-bristle-at-th_984719.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be3/brigid-kemmerer-2470_poetry_where-did-this-come-from-i-bristle-at-th_984719.jpg) > ““Where did this come from?” I bristle at the question. “I wrote it right in front of you. I didn’t cheat.” “I’m not accusing you of cheating. I’m asking why you were able to put together five hundred words about a poem, when I can rarely get more than a compound sentence out of you.”” [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels defensive when questioned about originality, highlighting tension between expectation and creative process. **In simple terms:** Defensiveness arises over originality doubts. Key Takeaway Embrace transparency in creative work. Themes authorship confidence communication Mood reflective critical Type philosophical dialogue When to use this quote - academic critique - writing workshops - peer review Key Concepts creative process intellectual property dialogue Questions to Reflect On - Why do we fear being seen as unoriginal? - How can we foster constructive feedback? A Different Perspective Accusations can stifle creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [You wrote this right?” he said. “It tells how to defeat Set.” Thoth unfolded the papyrus pages. “Oh, dear. 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My father wrote books and was also a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dimbleby/i-was-born-with-a-silver-microphone-in-my-mouth-and-that-was-an/) [Jonathan Dimbleby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dimbleby/) > [My writing routine is: get son off to school and sit down at 8 A.M. I read what I wrote the day before, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/my-writing-routine-is-get-son-off-to-school-and-sit-down-at-8-a-m-i/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) > [What I was concerned about when I wrote the 'Downward Spiral' record was being a self-centred destructive force. 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How one movement could choke you and kill you, but another meant nothing more than a caress and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/touch-was-funny-like-that-how-one-movement-could-choke-you-and-kill/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“His expression changed, and he took a step back. He looked away. "When you said it was broken , you were just being-" "No!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/his-expression-changed-and-he-took-a-step-back-he-looked-away-when/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“Kristin comes down the stairs, and the pressure on my chest snaps. I take a moment to turn away, inhaling deeply, blinking away tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/kristin-comes-down-the-stairs-and-the-pressure-on-my-chest-snaps-i/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“Hunter stared back at him until Michael raised his eyebrows in a Dude, wtf? expression. Hunter shook himself. "Yeah. Sure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/hunter-stared-back-at-him-until-michael-raised-his-eyebrows-in-a-dude/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“She almost wished she smoked, so she could lie on the car’s hood, flick a lighter, and make up names for the constellations while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/she-almost-wished-she-smoked-so-she-could-lie-on-the-car-s-hood-flick/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [ “You're probably thinking I owe you my life."\[Chris\] "No." she \[Becca\] snapped. "Just sixty bucks." "You charge for the hero act?" \[Chris\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/you-re-probably-thinking-i-owe-you-my-life-chris-no-she-becca-snapped/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“Scared of storms?” She jumped. The voice had come from behind her, and she forced her hands to her sides, ready to feign nonchalance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/scared-of-storms-she-jumped-the-voice-had-come-from-behind-her-and/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“Before their final trip, Hunter's father had imparted one last lesson, and death had made it stick: Use them before they use you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/before-their-final-trip-hunter-s-father-had-imparted-one-last-lesson/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“Becca watched New Kid work the cutlery. “Bet you wish you’d given up your seat now, huh?” “Oh.” Quinn settled back on the bench…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/becca-watched-new-kid-work-the-cutlery-bet-you-wish-you-d-given-up/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) > [“Nick's eyes were like ice. "Maybe we should talk about what happened in third period today. I didn't even ask if you were okay."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigid-kemmerer/nick-s-eyes-were-like-ice-maybe-we-should-talk-about-what-happened-in/) [Brigid Kemmerer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) [Explore all 165 Brigid Kemmerer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigid-kemmerer/) ## More Poetry quotes > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) > [The name Phenomenal Woman was inspired by Maya Angelo, who wrote 'Phenomenal Woman', a favorite poem of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meena-harris/the-name-phenomenal-woman-was-inspired-by-maya-angelo-who-wrote/) [Meena Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meena-harris/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. 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Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“In the streets, the children scream, the lovers cried, and the poets dreamed,” he crooned, putting down the metal grill tongs to take my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandria-clarke/in-the-streets-the-children-scream-the-lovers-cried-and-the-poets/) [Alexandria Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandria-clarke/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [You don’t read or overhear the voice in the poem, you are the voice in the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-vendler/you-don-t-read-or-overhear-the-voice-in-the-poem-you-are-the-voice-in/) [Helen Vendler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-vendler/) > [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. 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