Steal like an artist - Summary

Recently I read a book - Steal like an artist by Austin Kleon. During my reading, I noted the important points and quotes mentioned in the book. So here I will be pointing out them so that you can get an idea of what the author says in the book without reading the entire book. It's time-saving.

“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy, you will find yourself.”

—Yohji Yamamoto

First, you have to figure out who to copy. Second, you have to figure out what to copy.

The writer Wilson Mizner said if you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research

Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style.

“It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.”
- Conan O’Brien

The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to write what you like

“We don’t know where we get our ideas from. What we do know is that we do not get them from our laptops.”
—John Cleese

The artist, Maira Kalman says, “Avoiding work is the way to focus my mind.”

The writer, Steven Pressfield says, “It’s not that people are mean or cruel, they’re just busy.”

There is only one formula to becoming known - Do good work and share it with people.

Learn to code. Figure out how to make a website. Figure out blogging. Figure out Twitter and social media and all that other stuff. Find people on the Internet who love the same things as you and connect with them. Share things with them.

You don’t have to share everything—in fact, sometimes it’s much better if you don’t. Show just a little bit of what you’re working on.

“Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.”
—Howard Aiken

You don’t have to live anywhere other than the place you are to start connecting with the world you want to be in. If you feel stuck somewhere, if you’re too young or too old or too broke, or if you’re somehow tied down to a place, take heart. There’s a community of people out there you can connect with.

All you need is a little space and a little time—a place to work, and some time to do it; a little self-imposed solitude and temporary captivity.

“Distance and difference are the secret tonics of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything.”
—Jonah Lehrer

There’s only one reason I’m here: I’m here to make friends.

You’re only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with.

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.

“Modern art = I could do that + Yeah, but you didn’t.”
—Craig Damrauer

Be boring. It's the only way to get work done.

“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
—Gustave Flaubert

Get a calendar. Fill the boxes. Don’t break the chain.

In this age of information abundance and overload, those who get ahead will be the folks who figure out what to leave out, so they can concentrate on what’s really important to them.

Write a song on your lunch break. Paint a painting with only one colour. Start a business without any start-up capital. Shoot a movie with your iPhone and a few of your friends. Build a machine out of spare parts. Don’t make excuses for not working—make things with the time, space, and materials you have, right now.

“Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the money in the world, all the colors in the palette, anything you want—that just kills creativity.”
—Jack White