--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Originality is the art of hiding your…" description: "\"“Originality is the art of hiding your source”\" — Harry Roolaart" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/harry-roolaart-241667_art_originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-so_2805952.jpg" --- # Originality is the art of hiding your source ![“Originality is the art of hiding your source” quote by Harry Roolaart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/harry-roolaart-241667_art_originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-so_2805952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/harry-roolaart-241667_art_originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-so_2805952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/harry-roolaart-241667_art_originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-so_2805952.jpg) > ““Originality is the art of hiding your source”” Harry Roolaart ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Originality involves masking influences, making work appear unique while drawing on existing ideas. **In simple terms:** Original work hides its sources. Key Takeaway Recognize influences to foster true creativity. Themes Art Creativity Originality Inspiration Authenticity Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Writing - Design - Music composition - Film making Key Concepts Intellectual property Creative process Plagiarism Innovation Source attribution Questions to Reflect On - What does originality mean to you? - How can you credit influences while staying creative? A Different Perspective Hiding sources may risk plagiarism accusations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Originality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originality/) ## Related quotes > [If the eyes are the windows to the soul then you have perfected the art of hiding yours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/if-the-eyes-are-the-windows-to-the-soul-then-you-have-perfected-the/) Unkown > [Originality is the art of concealing your sources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/originality-is-the-art-of-concealing-your-sources/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Originality is the art of concealing your source.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-p-jones/originality-is-the-art-of-concealing-your-source/) [Franklin P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-p-jones/) > [The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-prerequisite-of-originality-is-the-art-of-forgetting-at-the/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Originality in art puts charm where it wasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-siegel/originality-in-art-puts-charm-where-it-wasn-t/) [Eli Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-siegel/) > [Cerebration is the enemy of originality in art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-ritt/cerebration-is-the-enemy-of-originality-in-art/) Martin Ritt > [I don't believe in originality in art. I think we exist on this earth to inspire each other, through our actions, through our deeds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-viola/i-don-t-believe-in-originality-in-art-i-think-we-exist-on-this-earth/) [Bill Viola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-viola/) > [I pretend no originality in observing that mass education was motivated in part by the perceived need to "educate them to keep them from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-pretend-no-originality-in-observing-that-mass-education-was/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If you want to be average, do what others do. If you want to be awesome, do what no one does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-den-heijer/if-you-want-to-be-average-do-what-others-do-if-you-want-to-be-awesome/) [Alexander Den Heijer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-den-heijer/) > [“Create with the heart; build with the mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/create-with-the-heart-build-with-the-mind/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Having to be different is the same trap as having to be the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/having-to-be-different-is-the-same-trap-as-having-to-be-the-same/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) > [Writing that flirts with incoherence can just as readily flounder as writing characterized by simplicity and composure. There is no reliable formula for originality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/writing-that-flirts-with-incoherence-can-just-as-readily-flounder-as/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/our-originality-shows-itself-most-strikingly-not-in-what-we-wholly/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“Desert are you, deluge are you, in a crowd of fakes, only truth is you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/desert-are-you-deluge-are-you-in-a-crowd-of-fakes-only-truth-is-you/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [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/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Originality is the art of hiding your source”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harry Roolaart" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-roolaart/originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-source/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-roolaart/originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-source/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/harry-roolaart-241667_art_originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-so_2805952.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/harry-roolaart-241667_art_originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-so_2805952.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e8/harry-roolaart-241667_art_originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-so_2805952.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Originality is the art of hiding your source” — Harry Roolaart", "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": "Harry Roolaart", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-roolaart/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Originality is the art of hiding...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-roolaart/originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-source/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-roolaart/originality-is-the-art-of-hiding-your-source/#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 } } ] } ```