--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Stale is stale and borrowed is borrowed…" description: "\"Stale is stale and borrowed is borrowed, no matter how original your models may have been.\" — Robert Silverberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/robert-silverberg-14952_borrowed_stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed_2508569.jpg" --- # Stale is stale and borrowed is borrowed, no matter how… ![“Stale is stale and borrowed is borrowed, no matter how original your models may have been.” quote by Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/robert-silverberg-14952_borrowed_stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed_2508569.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/robert-silverberg-14952_borrowed_stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed_2508569.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/robert-silverberg-14952_borrowed_stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed_2508569.jpg) > “Stale is stale and borrowed is borrowed, no matter how original your models may have been.” [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Originality cannot mask the fact that ideas are often derivative or borrowed. **In simple terms:** Original ideas can still be based on existing work. Key Takeaway Recognize and credit sources. Themes creativity originality intellectual property Mood reflective critical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - academic writing - software development - artistic creation - product design Key Concepts plagiarism influence innovation Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance inspiration with originality? - When is borrowing acceptable? A Different Perspective Original work still requires ethical acknowledgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Yesterday's truth is today's bullshit. Even yesterday's liberating insight is today's jail of stale explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-blanton/yesterday-s-truth-is-today-s-bullshit-even-yesterday-s-liberating/) [Brad Blanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-blanton/) > [Stale water is a poor drink. Stale skill is worse. And the man who walks in his own footsteps only ends where he began.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-alexander/stale-water-is-a-poor-drink-stale-skill-is-worse-and-the-man-who/) [Lloyd Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-alexander/) > [Use the previous techniques in rotation. It will prevent your meditation experience from becoming stale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/use-the-previous-techniques-in-rotation-it-will-prevent-your/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [“You've got to continue to grow, or you're just like last night's corn bread-stale and dry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-lynn/you-ve-got-to-continue-to-grow-or-you-re-just-like-last-night-s-corn/) [Loretta Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-lynn/) > [Today was just another, emotionless and stale. Every time I try to reach you, I always seem to fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-was-just-another-emotionless-and-stale-every-time-i-try-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-casanova/real-love-is-the-love-that-sometimes-arises-after-sensual-pleasure-if/) [Giacomo Casanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-casanova/) > [Everything is grounded in mystery. Everything is swimming, and the stable does not exist. Life is a series of guesses, and there is mystery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-de-casseres/everything-is-grounded-in-mystery-everything-is-swimming-and-the/) [Benjamin De Casseres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-de-casseres/) > [Good writing must stay open to the questions and not fall prey to the pull of a polemic, otherwise, words simply become predictable, sentimental,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/good-writing-must-stay-open-to-the-questions-and-not-fall-prey-to-the/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [I'd come to believe there was no food more depressing than Danish, a pastry that seemed stale upon arrival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/i-d-come-to-believe-there-was-no-food-more-depressing-than-danish-a/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [With comedy, the jokes will come out, and people will see them coming. Changes in daily life or current events can change the consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lopez/with-comedy-the-jokes-will-come-out-and-people-will-see-them-coming/) [Robert Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lopez/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [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/) > [Talk health. The dreary, never-changing tale Of mortal maladies is worn and stale. You cannot charm, or interest, or please By harping in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/talk-health-the-dreary-never-changing-tale-of-mortal-maladies-is-worn/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [I'm always looking at new ways to tell a joke so that it doesn't get stale while working on new jokes every night or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burr/i-m-always-looking-at-new-ways-to-tell-a-joke-so-that-it-doesn-t-get/) [Bill Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burr/) > [Age could not wither nor custom stale her infinite monotony: in fact, neither Age nor Custom could do anything (as they said, their voices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/age-could-not-wither-nor-custom-stale-her-infinite-monotony-in-fact/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) ## More by Robert Silverberg > [One defining symptom of decadence is a fondness for vast and nonsensical extravagance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/one-defining-symptom-of-decadence-is-a-fondness-for-vast-and/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [It has been suggested that Tiptree is female, a theory that I find absurd, for there is to me something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/it-has-been-suggested-that-tiptree-is-female-a-theory-that-i-find/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Never pass by a chance to shut up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/never-pass-by-a-chance-to-shut-up/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“I'm not ready to fuck an empress just yet”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/i-m-not-ready-to-fuck-an-empress-just-yet/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Three Rules for Literary Success: 1. Read a lot. 2. Write a lot. 3. Read a lot more, write a lot more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/three-rules-for-literary-success-1-read-a-lot-2-write-a-lot-3-read-a/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Utopias are boring. Distopias on the other hand, are interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/utopias-are-boring-distopias-on-the-other-hand-are-interesting/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“History could be as arbitrary as poetry, he told himself: what is history, other than a matter of choice, the picking and choosing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/history-could-be-as-arbitrary-as-poetry-he-told-himself-what-is/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“It’s because I hate to think that anything goes to waste. I mean, that anything that was ever important or valuable or precious to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/it-s-because-i-hate-to-think-that-anything-goes-to-waste-i-mean-that/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“Death was the only question that contained its own answer, and when you asked the question and had the answer you were gone, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/death-was-the-only-question-that-contained-its-own-answer-and-when/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Men of great spirit are at high risk at a time when small souls rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/men-of-great-spirit-are-at-high-risk-at-a-time-when-small-souls-rule/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“I'm an urban New Yorker to the last molecule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/i-m-an-urban-new-yorker-to-the-last-molecule/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“He met me at the airport; it was ten in the morning, Washington time, when I arrived, after having taken a plane that left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/he-met-me-at-the-airport-it-was-ten-in-the-morning-washington-time/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“He felt disgruntled and obscurely let down at having paid good money to discover that the vision that had so irradiated his consciousness was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/he-felt-disgruntled-and-obscurely-let-down-at-having-paid-good-money/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“I tried to be good to Judith, I tried to be kind and loving, but our hatred kept coming between us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/i-tried-to-be-good-to-judith-i-tried-to-be-kind-and-loving-but-our/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [“As youngest boy in service, the worst jobs fell to him, and this would”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/as-youngest-boy-in-service-the-worst-jobs-fell-to-him-and-this-would/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) [Explore all 44 Robert Silverberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) ## More Borrowed quotes > [I love awards, especially if I get them. It's up to the courage of the filmmakers to make art in cinema, not just business.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-gazzara/i-love-awards-especially-if-i-get-them-it-s-up-to-the-courage-of-the/) [Ben Gazzara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-gazzara/) > [The creation of George Smiley, the retired spy recalled to hunt for just such a high-ranking mole in 'Tinker, Tailor,' was extremely personal. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/the-creation-of-george-smiley-the-retired-spy-recalled-to-hunt-for/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones, altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-combination-of-such-characters-some-as-the-sacral-ones-altogether/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [I'm no innovator. If anything I'm a stealer, or borrower. I've stolen or borrowed from more people than you can shake a stick at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-bryant/i-m-no-innovator-if-anything-i-m-a-stealer-or-borrower-i-ve-stolen-or/) [Bear Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-bryant/) > [Any sizeable Portuguese town looks like a superstitious bride's finery - something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/any-sizeable-portuguese-town-looks-like-a-superstitious-bride-s/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [“I came to this world with nothing, and I leave with nothing but love, everything else is just borrowed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-streets/i-came-to-this-world-with-nothing-and-i-leave-with-nothing-but-love/) The Streets > [Investors, of course, can, by their own behavior make stock ownership highly risky. And many do. Active trading, attempts to "time" market movements, inadequate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/investors-of-course-can-by-their-own-behavior-make-stock-ownership/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [I'm so sick of mermaid dresses, trains, borrowed bling-bling, and a pose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-leon-talley/i-m-so-sick-of-mermaid-dresses-trains-borrowed-bling-bling-and-a-pose/) [Andre Leon Talley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-leon-talley/) > [There is a word Kristos in the Greek dictionary, and this word is supposed to be borrowed from the Sanskrit word "Krishna," and Christ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/there-is-a-word-kristos-in-the-greek-dictionary-and-this-word-is/) [A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-bhaktivedanta-swami-prabhupada/) > [In 1981, I borrowed 2,000 pounds - a lot of money back then - paid 50 quid for a seat, packed my own sandwich,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/in-1981-i-borrowed-2-000-pounds-a-lot-of-money-back-then-paid-50-quid/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [I think when Tom Ford was there I borrowed a Gucci tux one time, and they were very nice and he was very kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-leto/i-think-when-tom-ford-was-there-i-borrowed-a-gucci-tux-one-time-and/) [Jared Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-leto/) > [There is a big problem. The problem is the country borrowed too much. We went on a borrowing binge, there was a housing boom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-osborne/there-is-a-big-problem-the-problem-is-the-country-borrowed-too-much/) [George Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-osborne/) > [I toyed with making portraits based on people's discarded shopping lists found on the street, or old diaries bought on eBay, or other forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-blackall/i-toyed-with-making-portraits-based-on-people-s-discarded-shopping/) [Sophie Blackall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-blackall/) > [There are instances where lines in my work are borrowed or stolen from sources, mainly from books, or they become my own versions. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-pettibon/there-are-instances-where-lines-in-my-work-are-borrowed-or-stolen/) [Raymond Pettibon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-pettibon/) > [True beauty lives on high. Ours is but a flame borrowed thence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/true-beauty-lives-on-high-ours-is-but-a-flame-borrowed-thence/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) Browse all 343 Borrowed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Stale is stale and borrowed is borrowed, no matter how original your models may have been.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Silverberg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed-no-matter-how-original-your/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Borrowed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed-no-matter-how-original-your/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/robert-silverberg-14952_borrowed_stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed_2508569.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/robert-silverberg-14952_borrowed_stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed_2508569.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/201/robert-silverberg-14952_borrowed_stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed_2508569.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Stale is stale and borrowed is borrowed, no matter how original your models may have been.” — Robert Silverberg", "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": "Robert Silverberg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Stale is stale and borrowed is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed-no-matter-how-original-your/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/stale-is-stale-and-borrowed-is-borrowed-no-matter-how-original-your/#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 } } ] } ```