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“They ought to be illustrations not authorities, studies not models.”
Great predecessors can teach principles without becoming templates to copy, preserving the learner’s responsibility to develop independent judgment and expression.
Source note: The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; Lewes is warning writers against imitating Cicero, Titian or other masters.
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“you have to become lowly and strong; to recognise the powers of others and to fulfil your own.”
Creative development is framed as a balance between recognizing other people’s powers and taking responsibility for developing one’s own rather than copying them.
Source note: Lectures on Art, Lecture VII, Project Gutenberg #19164. Ruskin is warning students against both conceit and servile imitation.
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“Insist on yourself; never imitate.”
Originality begins with developing one’s own capacities rather than copying another person’s surface style.
Source note: Self-Reliance; Emerson gives the imperative while arguing for originality, self-trust, and resistance to imitation rather than dependence on another person’s model.
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“It is imitation, and as such it is lifeless.”
Surface imitation may reproduce another writer’s recognizable manner without reproducing the thought or experience that originally gave that manner vitality.
Source note: The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; Lewes criticizes attempts to copy the verbal mannerisms of famous writers.
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“Humility should not be an abasement; for it is never a virtue in man to lower himself.”
Janet sharply separates humility from self-degradation: accurate awareness of human weakness should coexist with dignity, so humility does not require pretending that one has no worth or abilities.
Source note: Elements of Morals, section 165, Caroline Rollin Corson translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. Janet contrasts humility with false abasement and defines it alongside self-respect as an accurate estimate of both human weakness and human dignity.
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“He that walketh uprightly walketh surely.”
Consistent upright conduct reduces the need to maintain conflicting stories or hidden motives.
Source note: Proverbs 10:9 in the King James Version; the opening clause is quoted here.