Originalism...

I was reading an article on Cracked.com (forwarded by my dear friend the Manhunter from Mars), when I tripped over a different story they wrote about plagiarism. Apparently, some outfit in Mexico stole some of their material and posted it on their site in entirety--including linking directly to the images in the Cracked data files on the web. Not terribly smart. The article is about the retribution visited upon them, and is rather funny (you can read it here if you want).

Anyway, the whole thing struck me as rather funny (funny weird, not funny ha-ha), because my girlfriend had just a few days earlier quoted Paul Gaugin, who said: "Art is either plagiarism or revolution." I really like this quote, especially since one of my most deep-rooted fears as an artist is that my work will end up derivative. I find it inspiring, and it challenges me to take chances and make bold leaps.

My previous favorite motto (one I used with dripping sarcasm) was one I had always attributed to Mark Twain: "Creativity is the art of concealing your source." But when I tried to look it up on Google last night, all I could find was "Originality is the art of concealing your source," credited to a Franklin P. Jones. Ironically enough, Answers.com says, "Unfortunately, the identity of Franklin P. Jones is not clear. Some ... refer to him as an American businessman who lived from 1887-1929, while others refer to him as an American humorist who lived from 1853-1935. A bit of research has identified a Franklin Pierce Jones ... who lived between 1874 and 1953 and had a successful furniture store in Clinton, Oklahoma, after working as a farmer in Missouri." I entered just the quote into google, and found it attributed to Norman Lear, Coco Chanel, and--perhaps most disturbing--a Pastor named Rick Warren.

This prompted me to look up what other people said about creativity and originality, and here is what I found:

"Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory is too good." --Friedrich Nietzsche (the "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger" guy)

"What is originality? Undetected plagiarism." --William Ralph Inge (the edgy clergyman)

"Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it." --Laurence J. Peter (the guy who read a lot of Nietzsche in college but forgot it all)

I trust you find the humor in a post about plagiarism composed entirely of others' thoughts on the matter.

"Have a nice day." --Forrest Gump