# "Good artists borrow, great artists steal."

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 24, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376 "2002-04-24T16:08:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/1 "2002-04-24T16:08:18Z")

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Picasso is credited with saying “Good artists borrow; great artists steal.”

T.S. Elliot is also credited, as is Stravinsky.

Who really originated it?

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**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/2 "2002-04-24T16:26:47Z")

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Maybe they all said it…?

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**Author:** ![Demosthenesian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Demosthenesian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demosthenesian)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/3 "2002-04-24T17:53:09Z")

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Irony is the lowest form of humour and whatnot.

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**Author:** ![Stinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@Stinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinky)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/4 "2002-04-24T18:00:01Z")

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They all stole it from me:D

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**Author:** ![Malice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@Malice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malice)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/5 "2002-04-24T20:46:16Z")

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In any case, isn’t it

“Good artists _copy,_ great artists steal”?

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**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/6 "2002-04-25T12:55:25Z")

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Well. That wasn’t helpful.

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**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/7 "2002-04-25T19:01:21Z")

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Then there’s “Real artists ship,” from Steven P. Jobs.

Dunno if he stole it from anyone, but odds are good Bill Gates stole it from him. 😉

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal/105376/8 "2002-04-25T22:12:31Z")

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If you type “good artists copy, great artists steal” into Google, all the relevant sites say Picasso. If you substitute “borrow” you get fewer hits but they still say Picasso. Don’t see any other options.