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Copying is about reverse-engineering.

Austin Kleon

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Austin Kleon
Age: 41
Born: 1983
Born: June 16
Author
Musician
Visual Artist
Writer
Ohio
United States
Copying
Engineering
Reverse

More quotes by Austin Kleon

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Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing.
Austin Kleon
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Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)
Austin Kleon
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When people give advice, they're really just talking to themselves in the past.
Austin Kleon
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The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.
Austin Kleon
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Don't wait until you know who you are to get started.
Austin Kleon
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If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running from it.
Austin Kleon
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Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings. You need to make it uncomfortable. You need to spend some time in another land, among people that do things differently than you. Travel makes the world look new, and when the world looks new, our brains work harder.
Austin Kleon
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Enjoy your obscurity while it lasts.
Austin Kleon
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Find the most talented person in the room, and if it's not you, go stand next to him. Hang out with him. Try to be helpful. If you ever find that you're the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.
Austin Kleon
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Not everybody will get it. People will misinterpret you and what you do. They might even call you names. So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored -- the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.
Austin Kleon
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You're ready. Start making stuff.
Austin Kleon
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The people who get what they’re after are very often the ones who just stick around long enough.
Austin Kleon
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You'll either find the answer or you'll come up with a better question.
Austin Kleon
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It's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.
Austin Kleon
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Inertia is the death of creativity
Austin Kleon
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Become a documentarian of what you do.
Austin Kleon
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Marriage is two people in love standing in the same bathroom
Austin Kleon
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There’s an economic theory out there that if you take the incomes of your five closest friends and average them, the resulting number will be pretty close to your own income. I think the same thing is true of idea incomes. You’re only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with.
Austin Kleon
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Amateurs know that contributing something is better than contributing nothing.
Austin Kleon
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We're always being told 'find your voice.' When I was younger, I never really knew what this meant. I used to worry a lot about voice, wondering if I had my own. But now I realize that the only way to find your voice is to use it. It's hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow.
Austin Kleon