--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and…" description: "\"Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_copying_only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and_2758602.png" --- # Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or… ![“Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_copying_only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and_2758602.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_copying_only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and_2758602.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_copying_only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and_2758602.png) > “Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Inventors embody borrowing ideas and transforming them; everyone can be inventive in daily life. **In simple terms:** Being inventive means adapting and reshaping existing ideas. Key Takeaway Cultivate a mindset of creative borrowing. Themes creativity innovation resourcefulness Mood inspirational practical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - business - art - problem solving - education Key Concepts entrepreneurship intellectual property Questions to Reflect On - How can you innovate with limited means? - What does invention mean to you? A Different Perspective Not everyone has resources to “borrow” effectively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Borrow Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrow-man-3152241/) [Copying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copying/) [Every man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-man/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Insightful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insightful/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor/) [Inventor Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor-knows-1320192/) [Know how](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-how/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-borrow-3152242/) [Man Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-inventor-1909416/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) ## Related quotes > [The public values the invention more than the inventor does. The inventor knows there is much more and better where this came from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-public-values-the-invention-more-than-the-inventor-does-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Do not allow anyone to tell you what kind of a person you are inside except God himself, for every inventor knows all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-allow-anyone-to-tell-you-what-kind-of-a-person-you-are-inside/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing in nature is that even; man is the inventor of straight edges.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/nothing-in-nature-is-that-even-man-is-the-inventor-of-straight-edges/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Man is the inventor of stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/man-is-the-inventor-of-stupidity/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [With the aid of these active experimental sciences man becomes an inventor of phenomena, a real foreman of creation; and under this head we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/with-the-aid-of-these-active-experimental-sciences-man-becomes-an/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [When you borrow a man's car, always return it with a tank of gas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/when-you-borrow-a-man-s-car-always-return-it-with-a-tank-of-gas/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [It is frivolous to fix pedantically the date of particular inventions. They have all been invented over and over fifty times. Man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-frivolous-to-fix-pedantically-the-date-of-particular-inventions/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [As Arkwright and Whitney were the demi-gods of cotton, so prolific Time will yet bring an inventor to every plant. There is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/as-arkwright-and-whitney-were-the-demi-gods-of-cotton-so-prolific/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Man is a shrewd inventor, and is ever taking the hint of a new machine from his own structure, adapting some secret of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/man-is-a-shrewd-inventor-and-is-ever-taking-the-hint-of-a-new-machine/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [One must be an inventor to read well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/one-must-be-an-inventor-to-read-well/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Every really able man, in whatever direction he works - a man of large affairs, an inventor, a statesman, an orator, a poet, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-really-able-man-in-whatever-direction-he-works-a-man-of-large/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In America the geography is sublime, but the men are not; the inventions are excellent, but the inventors one is sometimes ashamed of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-america-the-geography-is-sublime-but-the-men-are-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity. The inventor did it because it was natural to him, and so in him it has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-imitator-dooms-himself-to-hopeless-mediocrity-the-inventor-did-it/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [There are a lot of kids out there copying and distributing movies - not because they care about seeing the movies or sharing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-perry-barlow/there-are-a-lot-of-kids-out-there-copying-and-distributing-movies-not/) [John Perry Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-perry-barlow/) ## More by Ralph Waldo Emerson > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More Copying quotes > [There are a lot of kids out there copying and distributing movies - not because they care about seeing the movies or sharing them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-perry-barlow/there-are-a-lot-of-kids-out-there-copying-and-distributing-movies-not/) [John Perry Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-perry-barlow/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Here's how man thinks: "If no one's done it, why should I try? It's a waste of my time; but if he's done it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nabil-n-jamal-2/here-s-how-man-thinks-if-no-one-s-done-it-why-should-i-try-it-s-a/) [Nabil N. Jamal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nabil-n-jamal-2/) > [It was only after I had been out of the art school that I actually copied a small Seurat, and I copied it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bridget-riley/it-was-only-after-i-had-been-out-of-the-art-school-that-i-actually/) [Bridget Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bridget-riley/) > [Copying is a form of self-validation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-cox/copying-is-a-form-of-self-validation/) [Patrick Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-cox/) > [You can't honour someone by copying them or trying to be exactly like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-craig-martin/you-can-t-honour-someone-by-copying-them-or-trying-to-be-exactly-like/) [Michael Craig-Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-craig-martin/) > [Why would anybody hire a someone who is copying someone else when he can get the original one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kk/why-would-anybody-hire-a-someone-who-is-copying-someone-else-when-he/) [KK](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kk/) > [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/) > [Fools talk of imitation and copying, all is imitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gainsborough/fools-talk-of-imitation-and-copying-all-is-imitation/) [Thomas Gainsborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gainsborough/) > [Copying is slavery. The letter must never be followed, only the spirit is to be grasped. Higher affirmations live in the spirit. And where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-t-suzuki/copying-is-slavery-the-letter-must-never-be-followed-only-the-spirit/) [D.T. Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-t-suzuki/) > [If I created a new depravity I would be a priestess, while my imitators would founder, after my reign, in abominable filth...Don't you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/if-i-created-a-new-depravity-i-would-be-a-priestess-while-my/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [The only thing all successful people have in common is that they're successful, so don't waste your time copying "the successful strategies" of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-only-thing-all-successful-people-have-in-common-is-that-they-re/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I've learned that you can do something great, but you have to continue reinventing yourself as an artist. So by the time someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romeo-santos/i-ve-learned-that-you-can-do-something-great-but-you-have-to-continue/) [Romeo Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romeo-santos/) > [When photographers get beyond copying the achievements of others, or just repeating their own accidental first successes, they learn that they do not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/when-photographers-get-beyond-copying-the-achievements-of-others-or/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [I can't catch her by copying her, I can't draw her with a borrowed stencil. She is all the things a lover should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-can-t-catch-her-by-copying-her-i-can-t-draw-her-with-a-borrowed/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) [Browse all 226 Copying quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copying/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and-every-man-is-or-should-be-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Copying" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and-every-man-is-or-should-be-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_copying_only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and_2758602.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_copying_only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and_2758602.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/976/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_copying_only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and_2758602.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson", "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": "Ralph Waldo Emerson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Only an inventor knows how to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and-every-man-is-or-should-be-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/only-an-inventor-knows-how-to-borrow-and-every-man-is-or-should-be-an/#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 } } ] } ```