--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I did what has already been done, I…" description: "\"If I did what has already been done, I would be a plagiarist and would consider myself unworthy; so I do something different and people call me a scoun..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/paul-gauguin-2667_call-me_if-i-did-what-has-already-been-done-i-wo_1190542.png" --- # If I did what has already been done, I would be a… ![“If I did what has already been done, I would be a plagiarist and would consider myself unworthy; so I do something different and people call me a scoundrel. I'd rather be a scoundrel than a plagiarist!” quote by Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/paul-gauguin-2667_call-me_if-i-did-what-has-already-been-done-i-wo_1190542.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/paul-gauguin-2667_call-me_if-i-did-what-has-already-been-done-i-wo_1190542.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/paul-gauguin-2667_call-me_if-i-did-what-has-already-been-done-i-wo_1190542.png) > “If I did what has already been done, I would be a plagiarist and would consider myself unworthy; so I do something different and people call me a scoundrel. I'd rather be a scoundrel than a plagiarist!” [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He prefers being seen as a rebel rather than a copycat, valuing originality over conformity. **In simple terms:** Choosing originality over imitation. Key Takeaway Embrace boldness. Themes originality rebellion identity creativity self‑esteem Mood defiant proud reflective Type aphilosophical motivational When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal branding - career decisions - social perception Key Concepts authenticity individualism risk reputation Questions to Reflect On - What would you risk to stay original? - How do you define authenticity? A Different Perspective Being a scoundrel may damage relationships and credibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Plagiarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plagiarism/) [Scoundrels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scoundrels/) ## Related quotes > [Art is either a plagiarist or a revolutionist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/art-is-either-a-plagiarist-or-a-revolutionist/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Only a sadistic scoundrel-or a fool-tells the bald truth on social occasions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/only-a-sadistic-scoundrel-or-a-fool-tells-the-bald-truth-on-social/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Patriotism: The first resort of a scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/patriotism-the-first-resort-of-a-scoundrel/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [An economist is a scoundrel who tells you the way things are rather than the way you want them to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-nordhaus/an-economist-is-a-scoundrel-who-tells-you-the-way-things-are-rather/) William Nordhaus > [I've always thought respectable people scoundrels, and I look anxiously at my face every morning for signs of my becoming a scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-ve-always-thought-respectable-people-scoundrels-and-i-look/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/patriotism-is-the-last-refuge-to-which-a-scoundrel-clings/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [It's very hard not to be a scoundrel nowadays. Everywhere there are pressures that work towards our personal and collective debasement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-rodrigues/it-s-very-hard-not-to-be-a-scoundrel-nowadays-everywhere-there-are/) [Nelson Rodrigues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-rodrigues/) > [Like a battalion of marines at roll call, her neck hairs marshaled to five-alarm status. She stumbled back to her desk, jerked open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-wilde/like-a-battalion-of-marines-at-roll-call-her-neck-hairs-marshaled-to/) [Lori Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-wilde/) > [Public office is the last refuge of the scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boies-penrose/public-office-is-the-last-refuge-of-the-scoundrel/) Boies Penrose > [40 million Russians are convinced that I am a scoundrel, a thief, a criminal or a CIA agent, who deserves to be shot, hanged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/40-million-russians-are-convinced-that-i-am-a-scoundrel-a-thief-a/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [Whitney: You black-hearted, treacherous, conniving scoundrel. Clayton: Your flattery warms my heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/whitney-you-black-hearted-treacherous-conniving-scoundrel-clayton/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [He who speaks ill of an absent friend, or fails to take his part if attacked by another, that man is a scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/he-who-speaks-ill-of-an-absent-friend-or-fails-to-take-his-part-if/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Only by himself, with one acre and a house, will a dunce be a dunce. Once he manages to gain power, he'll turn into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/only-by-himself-with-one-acre-and-a-house-will-a-dunce-be-a-dunce/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [Tell a scoundrel, three or four times a day, that he is the pink of probity, and you make him at least the perfection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/tell-a-scoundrel-three-or-four-times-a-day-that-he-is-the-pink-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More by Paul Gauguin > [In art, all who have done something other than their predecessors have merited the epithet of revolutionary; and it is they alone who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/in-art-all-who-have-done-something-other-than-their-predecessors-have/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [It is well for young men to have a model, but let them draw the curtain over it while they are painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/it-is-well-for-young-men-to-have-a-model-but-let-them-draw-the/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Today one can dare anything, and, furthermore, nobody is surprised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/today-one-can-dare-anything-and-furthermore-nobody-is-surprised/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [It was so simple to paint things as I saw them; to put without special calculation a red close to a blue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/it-was-so-simple-to-paint-things-as-i-saw-them-to-put-without-special/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Out in the sun, some painters are lined up. The first is copying nature, the second is copying the first, the third is copying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/out-in-the-sun-some-painters-are-lined-up-the-first-is-copying-nature/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [However depressed I may be I am not in the habit of giving up a project without having tried everything, even the 'impossible', to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/however-depressed-i-may-be-i-am-not-in-the-habit-of-giving-up-a/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Lacking many of the essential implements, it irritated me to be reduced to impotence in the face of artistic projects to which I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/lacking-many-of-the-essential-implements-it-irritated-me-to-be/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Life has no meaning unless one lives it with a will, at least to the limit of one's will. Virtue, good, evil are nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/life-has-no-meaning-unless-one-lives-it-with-a-will-at-least-to-the/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [When the physical organism breaks up, the soul survives. It then takes on another body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/when-the-physical-organism-breaks-up-the-soul-survives-it-then-takes/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Proficiency in art is a contract with your self and the empowerment of your self. Not all of us demand or even desire proficiency,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/proficiency-in-art-is-a-contract-with-your-self-and-the-empowerment/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Sometimes people accuse me of being incomprehensible only because they look for an explicative side to my pictures which is not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/sometimes-people-accuse-me-of-being-incomprehensible-only-because/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [“Do what you like, so long as it is intelligent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/do-what-you-like-so-long-as-it-is-intelligent/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [One's state of mind is three-quarters of what counts, so it has to be carefully nurtured if you want to do something great and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/one-s-state-of-mind-is-three-quarters-of-what-counts-so-it-has-to-be/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [The public wants to understand and learn in a single day, a single minute, what the artist has spent years learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/the-public-wants-to-understand-and-learn-in-a-single-day-a-single/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) > [Stay firmly in your path and dare; be wild two hours a day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/stay-firmly-in-your-path-and-dare-be-wild-two-hours-a-day/) [Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) [Explore all 154 Paul Gauguin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/) ## More Call me quotes > [I just read an article about how young American males feel uncomfortable appearing naked in front of each other in locker rooms. 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Are we here alone?)It is I you hold, and who holds you,I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/comerado-this-is-no-book-who-touches-this-touches-a-man-is-it-night/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-take-thee-at-thy-word-call-me-but-love-and-i-ll-be-new-baptized/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Call me the rap assassinator / rhymes rugged and built like Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raekwon/call-me-the-rap-assassinator-rhymes-rugged-and-built-like/) [Raekwon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raekwon/) > [My phone rings, they call me up and say, 'Chael, your testosterone level is too high.' I say, 'Well, how high was it?' 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He calls me Paul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/donald-trump-is-a-pretty-casual-guy-he-calls-me-paul/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [ Shigure Sohma: \[got Tohru a maid costume for White Day\] I can't wait to for her to call me master while wearing this. Hatsuharu… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuki-takaya/shigure-sohma-got-tohru-a-maid-costume-for-white-day-i-can-t-wait-to/) [Natsuki Takaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuki-takaya/) > [Some people call me the unofficial mayor of Castro Street.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-milk/some-people-call-me-the-unofficial-mayor-of-castro-street/) [Harvey Milk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-milk/) > [What I did for my last act as a painter, if you call me a painter, was to photograph the weave of the canvas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-denes/what-i-did-for-my-last-act-as-a-painter-if-you-call-me-a-painter-was/) [Agnes Denes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-denes/) > [It's nice that people can call me an artist and it's nice that I can refer to myself as such, but it also kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matana-roberts/it-s-nice-that-people-can-call-me-an-artist-and-it-s-nice-that-i-can/) [Matana Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matana-roberts/) > [Apollo?” I guessed… He put a finger to his lips. “I’m incognito. Call me Fred.” A god named Fred?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/apollo-i-guessed-he-put-a-finger-to-his-lips-i-m-incognito-call-me/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [You load 16 tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. 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