--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never stop writing because you have run…" description: "\"Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas. Fill the lacunae of inspiration by tidily copying out what is already written.\" — Walter Benjamin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/walter-benjamin-1723_copying_never-stop-writing-because-you-have-run_1735659.jpg" --- # Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas. Fill… ![“Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas. Fill the lacunae of inspiration by tidily copying out what is already written.” quote by Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/walter-benjamin-1723_copying_never-stop-writing-because-you-have-run_1735659.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/walter-benjamin-1723_copying_never-stop-writing-because-you-have-run_1735659.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/walter-benjamin-1723_copying_never-stop-writing-because-you-have-run_1735659.jpg) > “Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas. Fill the lacunae of inspiration by tidily copying out what is already written.” [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author urges continual writing, even when ideas are scarce, by copying existing material to fill gaps and inspire new thoughts. **In simple terms:** Keep writing, even by copying. Key Takeaway Use existing work as a springboard. Themes creativity perseverance inspiration Mood motivational pragmatic Type instructional inspirational When to use this quote - writer's block - academic research - artistic practice Key Concepts intertextuality creative process productivity Questions to Reflect On - How does copying spark original ideas? - When is it ethical to borrow? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Copying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copying/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Inspiration Tidily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration-tidily-1470950/) [Run Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/run-ideas-387949/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Stop Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-writing/) [Writer 's block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-s-block/) [Writers block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-block/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Run](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-run-1313833/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) ## Related quotes > [Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/never-stop-writing-because-you-have-run-out-of-ideas/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blount-jr/i-think-writer-s-block-is-simply-the-dread-that-you-are-going-to/) [Roy Blount, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blount-jr/) > [That famous writer’s block is a myth as far as I’m concerned. I think bad writers must have a great difficulty writing. They don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/that-famous-writer-s-block-is-a-myth-as-far-as-i-m-concerned-i-think/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [When I'm writing, I write. And then it's as if the muse is convinced that I'm serious and says, 'Okay. Okay. I'll come.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/when-i-m-writing-i-write-and-then-it-s-as-if-the-muse-is-convinced/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Just write every day of your life. Read intensely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/just-write-every-day-of-your-life-read-intensely/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/writing-about-a-writer-s-block-is-better-than-not-writing-at-all/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Writing is 90% procrastination. It is a matter of doing everything you can to avoid writing, until it is about four in the morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rudnick/writing-is-90-procrastination-it-is-a-matter-of-doing-everything-you/) [Paul Rudnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rudnick/) > [The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-best-way-is-always-to-stop-when-you-are-going-good-and-when-you/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“I don't get writers block. I get writer has too many ideas and doesn't know which one to start next, block.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hojberg/i-don-t-get-writers-block-i-get-writer-has-too-many-ideas-and-doesn-t/) [Tyler Hojberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-hojberg/) > [Writer’s block is my unconscious mind telling me that something I’ve just written is either unbelievable or unimportant to me, and I solve it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/writer-s-block-is-my-unconscious-mind-telling-me-that-something-i-ve/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“I don't sit around waiting for passion to strike me. I keep working steadily, because I believe it is our privilege as humans to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/i-don-t-sit-around-waiting-for-passion-to-strike-me-i-keep-working/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rudnick/writing-is-90-percent-procrastination-reading-magazines-eating-cereal/) [Paul Rudnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rudnick/) > [“I haven’t had writer’s block. I think it’s because my process involves writing very badly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-haven-t-had-writer-s-block-i-think-it-s-because-my-process-involves/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [ I never have \[suffered writer’s block\], although I’ve had books that didn’t work out. I had to stop writing them. I just abandoned them.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-never-have-suffered-writer-s-block-although-i-ve-had-books-that/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I might have missed my calling as an editor. In the spring, the sight of my empty garden beds gives me the horticultural equivalent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-might-have-missed-my-calling-as-an-editor-in-the-spring-the-sight/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) ## More by Walter Benjamin > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“The construction of life is at present in the power of facts far more than of convictions, and of such facts as have scarcely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-construction-of-life-is-at-present-in-the-power-of-facts-far-more/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“It should be pointed out that certain correlative concepts retain their meaning, and possibly their foremost significance, if they are referred exclusively to man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/it-should-be-pointed-out-that-certain-correlative-concepts-retain/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Things are only mannequins and even the great world-historical events are only costumes beneath which they exchange glances with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/things-are-only-mannequins-and-even-the-great-world-historical-events/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [“to great writers, finished works weigh lighter than those fragments on which they labor their entire lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/to-great-writers-finished-works-weigh-lighter-than-those-fragments-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [All religions have honored the beggar. For he proves that in a matter at the same time as prosaic and holy, banal and regenerative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-religions-have-honored-the-beggar-for-he-proves-that-in-a-matter/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-camera-introduces-us-to-unconscious-optics-as-does-psychoanalysis/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence. The manner in which human sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/during-long-periods-of-history-the-mode-of-human-sense-perception/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Melancholy betrays the world for the sake of knowledge. But in its tenacious self-absorption it embraces dead objects in its contemplation, in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/melancholy-betrays-the-world-for-the-sake-of-knowledge-but-in-its/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [For what is the program of the bourgeois parties? A bad poem on springtime, filled to bursting with metaphors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/for-what-is-the-program-of-the-bourgeois-parties-a-bad-poem-on/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [There was the pedestrian who wedged himself into the crowd, but there was also the flneur who demanded elbow room and was unwilling to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/there-was-the-pedestrian-who-wedged-himself-into-the-crowd-but-there/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [The power of a text is different when it is read from when it is copied out. Only the copied text thus commands the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-power-of-a-text-is-different-when-it-is-read-from-when-it-is/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Quotations in my work are like wayside robbers who leap out armed and relieve the stroller of his conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/quotations-in-my-work-are-like-wayside-robbers-who-leap-out-armed-and/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Each morning the day lies like a fresh shirt on our bed; this incomparably fine, incomparably tightly woven tissue of pure prediction fits us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/each-morning-the-day-lies-like-a-fresh-shirt-on-our-bed-this/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) [Explore all 207 Walter Benjamin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) ## 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": "Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas. 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