--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Others, again, give us the mere carcass…" description: "\"Others, again, give us the mere carcass of another man’s thoughts, but deprived of all their life and spirit, and this is to add murder to robbery. I h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/charles-caleb-colton-270_acquire_others-again-give-us-the-mere-carcass-of_1113251.png" --- # Others, again, give us the mere carcass of another man’s… ![“Others, again, give us the mere carcass of another man’s thoughts, but deprived of all their life and spirit, and this is to add murder to robbery. I have somewhere seen it observed, that we should make the same use of a book, as a bee does of a flower; she steals sweets from it, but does not…” quote by Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/charles-caleb-colton-270_acquire_others-again-give-us-the-mere-carcass-of_1113251.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/charles-caleb-colton-270_acquire_others-again-give-us-the-mere-carcass-of_1113251.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a5/charles-caleb-colton-270_acquire_others-again-give-us-the-mere-carcass-of_1113251.png) > “Others, again, give us the mere carcass of another man’s thoughts, but deprived of all their life and spirit, and this is to add murder to robbery. I have somewhere seen it observed, that we should make the same use of a book, as a bee does of a flower; she steals sweets from it, but does not injure it; and those sweets she herself improves and concocts into honey. But most plagiarists, like the drone, have neither taste to select, nor industry to acquire, nor skill to improve, but impudently pilfer the honey ready prepared from the hive.” [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Plagiarism is likened to a bee stealing nectar without harming the flower, while plagiarists merely take ready-made ideas without adding value. **In simple terms:** Copying without improvement is like stealing honey without effort. Key Takeaway Add original value when using others' ideas. Themes integrity originality creativity Mood thoughtful critical Type ethical educational When to use this quote - academic writing - creative projects - journalism - teaching - software development Key Concepts intellectual honesty ethical use of sources Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform borrowed ideas into something new? - What responsibilities do creators have to original sources? A Different Perspective Original work requires effort; not all borrowing is plagiarism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bees/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Drones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drones/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industry/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Murder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murder/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Robbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robbery/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) ## Related quotes > [Most plagiarists, like the drone, have neither taste to select, industry to acquire, nor skill to improve, but impudently pilfer the honey ready prepared,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/most-plagiarists-like-the-drone-have-neither-taste-to-select-industry/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [I have somewhere seen it observed that we should make the same use of a book that the bee does of a flower: she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/i-have-somewhere-seen-it-observed-that-we-should-make-the-same-use-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Five thousand years have added no improvement to the hive of the bee, nor to the house of the beaver; but look at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/five-thousand-years-have-added-no-improvement-to-the-hive-of-the-bee/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Books are not commodities, but the gilded age of treadmill publishing - to which Winfrey has contributed her demeaning sensibility - has made them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norah-vincent/books-are-not-commodities-but-the-gilded-age-of-treadmill-publishing/) [Norah Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norah-vincent/) > [Plagiarists, at least, have the merit of preservation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/plagiarists-at-least-have-the-merit-of-preservation/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Plagiarists are always suspicious of being stolen from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/plagiarists-are-always-suspicious-of-being-stolen-from/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“Muslims must be warned that plagiarists and pretenders as well as ignorant imitators affect great mischief by debasing values, imposing upon the ignorant, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/muslims-must-be-warned-that-plagiarists-and-pretenders-as-well-as/) [Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syed-muhammad-naquib-al-attas/) > [Designers are plagiarists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zayed-khan/designers-are-plagiarists/) [Zayed Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zayed-khan/) > [“Lovers are the best and worst kind of thieves, you know. That’s the trick of love, you see. An entirely new invention, every time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-leblanc/lovers-are-the-best-and-worst-kind-of-thieves-you-know-that-s-the/) [Jeanette LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-leblanc/) > [In art there are only two types of people: revolutionaries and plagiarists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/in-art-there-are-only-two-types-of-people-revolutionaries-and/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Why should I give you an interview? All you journalists are plagiarists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-peckinpah/why-should-i-give-you-an-interview-all-you-journalists-are-plagiarists/) [Sam Peckinpah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-peckinpah/) > [“What do you get when you cross an egomaniacal fairy godmother, an arrogant genie, and a couple of wandering plagiarists whose idea of cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-serine/what-do-you-get-when-you-cross-an-egomaniacal-fairy-godmother-an/) [Kate SeRine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-serine/) > [Plagiarists are always suspicious of being stolen from, as pickpockets are observed commonly to walk with their hands in their breeches' pockets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/plagiarists-are-always-suspicious-of-being-stolen-from-as-pickpockets/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“I can’t wrangle bees. I’m terrified of stinging insects. Literally. I break out in hives.” “Hives! That’s adorbs, right?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kay-andrews/i-can-t-wrangle-bees-i-m-terrified-of-stinging-insects-literally-i/) [Mary Kay Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kay-andrews/) > [The little bee returns with evening's gloom, To join her comrades in the braided hive, Where, housed beside their might honey-comb, They dream their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-tennyson-turner/the-little-bee-returns-with-evening-s-gloom-to-join-her-comrades-in/) [Charles Tennyson Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-tennyson-turner/) ## More by Charles Caleb Colton > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/none-are-so-fond-of-secrets-as-those-who-do-not-mean-to-keep-them/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by reputation, approved by reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/mental-pleasures-never-cloy-unlike-those-of-the-body-they-are/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We ought not to be over-anxious to encourage innovation in cases of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ought-not-to-be-over-anxious-to-encourage-innovation-in-cases-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-owe-almost-all-our-knowledge-not-to-those-who-have-agreed-but-to/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Metaphysicians have been learning their lessons for the last four thousand years, and it is high time that they should now begin to teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/metaphysicians-have-been-learning-their-lessons-for-the-last-four/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Faith and works are necessary to our spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body are to our natural life as men; for faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/faith-and-works-are-necessary-to-our-spiritual-life-as-christians-as/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Explore all 778 Charles Caleb Colton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More Acquire quotes > [Most people seek after what they do not possess and are enslaved by the very things they want to acquire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anwar-sadat/most-people-seek-after-what-they-do-not-possess-and-are-enslaved-by/) [Anwar Sadat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anwar-sadat/) > [ If the State does not acquire supremacy over \[vast private\] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy-over-vast-private-enterprises/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Humility is an elusive virtue. The more we pursue it - and the more we seem to acquire it - the more we take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-aquilina/humility-is-an-elusive-virtue-the-more-we-pursue-it-and-the-more-we/) [Mike Aquilina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-aquilina/) > [Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behavior accordingly. If your new behavior gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group then to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/acquire-worldly-wisdom-and-adjust-your-behavior-accordingly-if-your/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [This was Shakespeare's form ; Who walk'd in every path of human life, Felt every passion ; and to all mankind Doth now, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-akenside/this-was-shakespeare-s-form-who-walk-d-in-every-path-of-human-life/) [Mark Akenside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-akenside/) > [Wasn't Saddam destroyed? Wasn't Gaddafi liquidated? Didn't Milosevic go to the Hague? All true. But Stalin survived. Kim Jong-un isn't doing too badly, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/wasn-t-saddam-destroyed-wasn-t-gaddafi-liquidated-didn-t-milosevic-go/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [The best way for women to acquire knowledge is from conversation with a father, a brother, or a friend, in the way of family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-letitia-barbauld/the-best-way-for-women-to-acquire-knowledge-is-from-conversation-with/) [Anna Letitia Barbauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-letitia-barbauld/) > [Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything, believe anything in order to acquire it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-heath/have-you-ever-wanted-something-so-badly-that-you-would-do-anything/) [Lorraine Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-heath/) > [Ballet is pure and demands that you serve something larger than yourself, whether it be beauty or art, or a combination of both. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-martins/ballet-is-pure-and-demands-that-you-serve-something-larger-than/) Peter Martins > [You can't know it all. 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Thus they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/the-enemy-s-spies-who-have-come-to-spy-on-us-must-be-sought-out/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [In the late 1950s a major topic under discussion was whether Canada should acquire nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/in-the-late-1950s-a-major-topic-under-discussion-was-whether-canada/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Shamanism is a path of knowledge, not of faith, and that knowledge cannot come from me or anyone else in this reality. To acquire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-harner/shamanism-is-a-path-of-knowledge-not-of-faith-and-that-knowledge/) [Michael Harner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-harner/) Browse all 1,020 Acquire quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Others, again, give us the mere carcass of another man’s thoughts, but deprived of all their life and spirit, and this is to add murder to robbery. I have somewhere seen it observed, that we should make the same use of a book, as a bee does of a flower; she steals sweets from it, but does not injure it; and those sweets she herself improves and concocts into honey. 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