--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal." description: "\"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.\" — T. S. Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/t-s-eliot-633_imitation_immature-poets-imitate-mature-poets-stea_1068136.png" --- # Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal. ![“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/t-s-eliot-633_imitation_immature-poets-imitate-mature-poets-stea_1068136.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/t-s-eliot-633_imitation_immature-poets-imitate-mature-poets-stea_1068136.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be1/t-s-eliot-633_imitation_immature-poets-imitate-mature-poets-stea_1068136.png) > “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poets evolve from copying others to creating original work, turning existing ideas into something new. **In simple terms:** Early poets copy; mature poets transform. Key Takeaway Seek originality by reworking existing ideas. Themes creativity originality artistic growth literary evolution Mood reflective inspirational critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - art education - creative projects Key Concepts intertextuality cultural appropriation innovation Questions to Reflect On - What distinguishes inspiration from plagiarism? - How can artists honor sources while creating anew? A Different Perspective Critics may argue that borrowing can be unethical if not credited. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitation/) [Immature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immature/) [Immature Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immature-poets-1479757/) [Mature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mature/) [Mature Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mature-poets-2647181/) [Originality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originality/) [Plagiarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plagiarism/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets Imitate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-imitate-1479758/) [Poets Steal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-steal-2077271/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/immature-poets-imitate-mature-poets-steal-bad-poets-deface-what-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A perfect poem is impossible. Once it had been written, the world would end. Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/a-perfect-poem-is-impossible-once-it-had-been-written-the-world-would-2/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [One of the surest tests of the superiority or inferiority of a poet is the way in which a poet borrows. Immature poets imitate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-surest-tests-of-the-superiority-or-inferiority-of-a-poet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Bad poets imitate, good poets steal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/bad-poets-imitate-good-poets-steal/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Good poets borrow, great poets steal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/good-poets-borrow-great-poets-steal/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The immature artist imitates. The mature artist steals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/the-immature-artist-imitates-the-mature-artist-steals/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) > [The immature poet imitates, the mature poet plagiarizes,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-immature-poet-imitates-the-mature-poet-plagiarizes/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different from that from which it was torn; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-good-poet-welds-his-theft-into-a-whole-of-feeling-which-is-unique-2/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Biden's first failed run for the presidency was ended by his dishonesty over his academic record and his plagiarism, including the biography and speeches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mollie-hemingway/biden-s-first-failed-run-for-the-presidency-was-ended-by-his/) [Mollie Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mollie-hemingway/) > [Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from two, it's research.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilson-mizner/copy-from-one-it-s-plagiarism-copy-from-two-it-s-research/) [Wilson Mizner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilson-mizner/) > [Plagiarism is necessary, progress implies it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-debord/plagiarism-is-necessary-progress-implies-it/) [Guy Debord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-debord/) > [As so often, a political event involving Donald Trump looks like swinging wildly between melodrama and farce. The Republican National Convention in Cleveland has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-colvin/as-so-often-a-political-event-involving-donald-trump-looks-like/) [Mark Colvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-colvin/) > [“AI must orbit humanity, not turn humanity into a lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/ai-must-orbit-humanity-not-turn-humanity-into-a-lie/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“All religions worthy of the name are now making great efforts to purify their doctrines and return to their original standpoint, — all except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virchand-gandhi/all-religions-worthy-of-the-name-are-now-making-great-efforts-to/) [Virchand Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virchand-gandhi/) > [Plagiarize, plagiarize, / Let no man's work evade your eyes, / Remember why the good Lord made your eyes, / Don't shade your eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-lehrer/plagiarize-plagiarize-let-no-man-s-work-evade-your-eyes-remember-why/) [Tom Lehrer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-lehrer/) ## More by T. S. Eliot > [The Nobel is a ticket to one's own funeral. No one has ever done anything after he got it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-nobel-is-a-ticket-to-one-s-own-funeral-no-one-has-ever-done/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Dear Mother, I am getting on nicely in my work at the bank, and like it ... I want to find out something about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/dear-mother-i-am-getting-on-nicely-in-my-work-at-the-bank-and-like-it/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, But the faith and the love and the hope are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/for-love-would-be-love-of-the-wrong-thing-there-is-yet-faith-but-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We must always take risks. That is our destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-must-always-take-risks-that-is-our-destiny/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/all-significant-truths-are-private-truths-as-they-become-public-they/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/when-forced-to-work-within-a-strict-framework-the-imagination-is/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Honest criticism and sensitive appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/honest-criticism-and-sensitive-appreciation-are-directed-not-upon-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Desire itself is movement Not in itself desirable; Love is itself unmoving, Only the cause and end of movement, Timeless, and undesiring Except in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/desire-itself-is-movement-not-in-itself-desirable-love-is-itself/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [ the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. \[He\] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-had-the-experience-but-we-missed-the-meaning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The end is in the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-end-is-in-the-beginning/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You have learned enough to see that cats are much like you and me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/you-have-learned-enough-to-see-that-cats-are-much-like-you-and-me/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-good-poet-welds-his-theft-into-a-whole-of-feeling-which-is-unique/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [It's strange that words are so inadequate. Yet, like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/it-s-strange-that-words-are-so-inadequate-yet-like-the-asthmatic/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Every end is a beginning...And every beginning is an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/every-end-is-a-beginning-and-every-beginning-is-an-end/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) [Explore all 433 T. S. Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) ## More Imitation quotes > [Imitation is the first instinct of the awakening mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/imitation-is-the-first-instinct-of-the-awakening-mind/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You go into extinction by being obsessed about becoming something else and then travelling in the wrong car while your real self keeps waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/you-go-into-extinction-by-being-obsessed-about-becoming-something/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Obviously I don't play the same way as Peter, but I could do a passable imitation of Peter Green; if you gave me a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-moore/obviously-i-don-t-play-the-same-way-as-peter-but-i-could-do-a/) [Gary Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-moore/) > [“Imitation and custom are the spring of almost all human action. The cause of it is that men fight shy of all and any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/imitation-and-custom-are-the-spring-of-almost-all-human-action-the/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [The method of not erring is sought by all the world. The logicians profess to guide it, the geometricians alone attain it, and apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/the-method-of-not-erring-is-sought-by-all-the-world-the-logicians/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [We have lost the good old British spirit. Instead we have American journalism and black-shirted buffoons making a cheap imitation of ice-cream sellers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-mosley/we-have-lost-the-good-old-british-spirit-instead-we-have-american/) [Oswald Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-mosley/) > [It is not the imitation that makes sons; it is sonship that makes imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/it-is-not-the-imitation-that-makes-sons-it-is-sonship-that-makes/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“most expensive originals have cheap imitations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elfriede-jelinek/most-expensive-originals-have-cheap-imitations/) [Elfriede Jelinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elfriede-jelinek/) > [I said breathe. Not do a fish-out of-water imitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/i-said-breathe-not-do-a-fish-out-of-water-imitation/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Don't envy what people have, emulate what they did to have it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/don-t-envy-what-people-have-emulate-what-they-did-to-have-it/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [Acquiring knowledge is a form of imitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/acquiring-knowledge-is-a-form-of-imitation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also, as having magnitude, complete in itself . . . with incidents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/a-tragedy-is-the-imitation-of-an-action-that-is-serious-and-also-as/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It is not imitation that makes sons. It is sonship that make imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/it-is-not-imitation-that-makes-sons-it-is-sonship-that-make-imitators/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [I propose not our enemies as an example for our general imitation, yet, as their navy is the best regulated of any in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-paul-jones/i-propose-not-our-enemies-as-an-example-for-our-general-imitation-yet/) [John Paul Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-paul-jones/) [Browse all 737 Imitation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. S. 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