--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It…" description: "\"Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those thi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/steve-jobs-307_art_ultimately-it-comes-down-to-taste-it-com_1568729.jpg" --- # Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It comes down to… ![“Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things into what you're doing. Picasso had a saying: good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great…” quote by Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/steve-jobs-307_art_ultimately-it-comes-down-to-taste-it-com_1568729.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/steve-jobs-307_art_ultimately-it-comes-down-to-taste-it-com_1568729.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/steve-jobs-307_art_ultimately-it-comes-down-to-taste-it-com_1568729.jpg) > “Ultimately, it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done and then try to bring those things into what you're doing. Picasso had a saying: good artists copy, great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas, and I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.” [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great creators absorb and transform existing ideas, blending diverse disciplines to innovate beyond imitation. **In simple terms:** Copying is okay, but true innovation steals and reshapes. Key Takeaway Embrace interdisciplinary learning to fuel creativity. Themes creativity innovation interdisciplinary Mood inspired optimistic Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - product development - team building - design thinking Key Concepts idea synthesis cultural borrowing artistic influence Questions to Reflect On - How can you ethically integrate others' ideas? - What disciplines can you combine for fresh insight? A Different Perspective Risk of plagiarism or loss of originality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artists Steal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artists-steal/) [Being the best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-the-best/) [Best things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-things/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Copies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copies/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Good art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-art/) [Good artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-artist/) [Good Artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-artists-322420/) [Great art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-art/) [Great artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-artist/) [Great Artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-artists/) [Great Artists Steal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-artists-steal-213972/) [Great idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-idea/) [Great ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-ideas/) [Happened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happened/) [Historian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historian/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Inspiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiring/) [Macintosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/macintosh/) [Macintosh Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/macintosh-great-1854483/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Memorable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memorable/) [Musician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/musician/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Shameless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shameless/) [Stealing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stealing/) [Stealing Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stealing-great-3053303/) [Taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taste/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Think Macintosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-macintosh-962840/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Zoologist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zoologist/) ## Related quotes > [Part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/part-of-what-made-the-macintosh-great-was-that-the-people-working-on/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [Picasso had a saying - 'good artists copy, great artists steal' - and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/picasso-had-a-saying-good-artists-copy-great-artists-steal-and-we/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [“Picasso said “good artists copy but great artists steal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-patrick/picasso-said-good-artists-copy-but-great-artists-steal/) [Sean Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-patrick/) > [“As Pablo Picasso (no slouch at theft himself) put it, “Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-coyle/as-pablo-picasso-no-slouch-at-theft-himself-put-it-good-artists/) [Daniel Coyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-coyle/) > [Good artists copy, great artists steal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/good-artists-copy-great-artists-steal/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [I steal from every single movie ever made. I love it - if my work has anything it's that I'm taking this from this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/i-steal-from-every-single-movie-ever-made-i-love-it-if-my-work-has/) [Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/) > [“Picasso Good authors copy, great artists steal"-Picassco”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/picasso-good-authors-copy-great-artists-steal-picassco/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/igor-stravinsky/lesser-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/) [Igor Stravinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/igor-stravinsky/) > [The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banksy/the-bad-artists-imitate-the-great-artists-steal/) [Banksy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banksy/) > [Art is theft”) and Igor Stravinsky (“Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal”), I’ve always stolen from the people I admire – not plagiarized, mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-kleon/art-is-theft-and-igor-stravinsky-lesser-artists-borrow-great-artists/) [Austin Kleon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-kleon/) > [I think the Macintosh was created by a group of people who felt that ah there wasn't a strict vision between sort of science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-think-the-macintosh-was-created-by-a-group-of-people-who-felt-that/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [Part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, poets, and artists, and zoologists, and historians. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/part-of-what-made-the-macintosh-great-was-that-the-people-working-on-2/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/we-have-always-been-shameless-about-stealing-great-ideas/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I think the Macintosh proves that everyone can have a bitmapped display.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-joy/i-think-the-macintosh-proves-that-everyone-can-have-a-bitmapped/) [Bill Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-joy/) > [It was all because of his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-sachar/it-was-all-because-of-his-no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great/) [Louis Sachar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-sachar/) ## More by Steve Jobs > [Who wants a stylus. You have to get em and put em away, and you lose em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/who-wants-a-stylus-you-have-to-get-em-and-put-em-away-and-you-lose-em/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I admire Mark Zuckerberg... for not selling out, for wanting to make a company. I admire that a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-admire-mark-zuckerberg-for-not-selling-out-for-wanting-to-make-a/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [If you want to hire great people and have them stay, you have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best ideas have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/if-you-want-to-hire-great-people-and-have-them-stay-you-have-to-be/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/everything-around-you-that-you-call-life-was-made-up-by-people-that/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“Innovation is not about saying yes to everything. It's about saying NO to all but the most crucial features.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/innovation-is-not-about-saying-yes-to-everything-it-s-about-saying-no/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-have-always-said-if-there-ever-came-a-day-when-i-could-no-longer/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/when-you-first-start-off-trying-to-solve-a-problem-the-first/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [I'm not dismissing the value of higher education; I'm simply saying it comes at the expense of experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-m-not-dismissing-the-value-of-higher-education-i-m-simply-saying-it/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“To YoYo Ma: "You playing is the best argument I've ever heard for the existence of God, because I don't really believe a human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/to-yoyo-ma-you-playing-is-the-best-argument-i-ve-ever-heard-for-the/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [The most important thing is a person. A person who incites your curiosity and feeds your curiosity; and machines cannot do that in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-most-important-thing-is-a-person-a-person-who-incites-your/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [The tragedy is that Dell didn't win it - we lost it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-tragedy-is-that-dell-didn-t-win-it-we-lost-it/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“I think great artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have a desire to express themselves. In fact some of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-think-great-artists-and-great-engineers-are-similar-in-that-they/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It's rare that you see an artist in his 30s or 40s able to really contribute something amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/it-s-rare-that-you-see-an-artist-in-his-30s-or-40s-able-to-really/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [We're going to be able to ask our computers to monitor things for us, and when certain conditions happen, are triggered, the computers will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/we-re-going-to-be-able-to-ask-our-computers-to-monitor-things-for-us/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) [Explore all 695 Steve Jobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Ultimately, it comes down to taste. 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