A Quote by T. S. Eliot

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.

T. S. Eliot

Quote Topics

Poetry Imitate Immature Mature Poets Steal

Quote Author

T. S. Eliot
American - Poet
September 26, 1888 - January 4, 1965

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.

T. S. Eliot

A perfect poem is impossible. Once it had been written, the world would end. Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.

Robert Graves

One of the surest tests of the superiority or inferiority of a poet is the way in which a poet borrows. Immature poets imitate mature poets steal bad poets deface what they take and good poets make it into something better or at least something different. The good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique utterly different than that from which it is torn the bad poet throws it into something which has no cohesion. A good poet will usually borrow from authors remote in time or alien in language or diverse in interest.

T. S. Eliot

Bad poets imitate, good poets steal.

T. S. Eliot

In the world of poetry there are would-be poets, workshop poets, promising poets, lovesick poets, university poets, and a few real poets.

James Broughton

Immature ists imitate. Mature ists steal.

Lionel Trilling

Immature artists imitate. Mature artists steal.

Lionel Trilling

Good poets borrow, great poets steal

T. S. Eliot

Good poets borrow; great poets steal.

David Shields

Nearly all men and women are poetical, to some extent, but very few can be called poets. There are great poets, small poets, and men and women who make verses. But all are not poets, nor even good versifiers. Poetasters are plentiful, but real poets are rare. Education can not make a poet, though it may polish and develop one.

Orson F. Whitney

There are two classes of poets - the poets by education and practice, these we respect; and poets by nature, these we love.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The phenomenon of Instagram poets - who are also, to be fair, Tumblr poets and Pinterest poets - has been one of the more surprising side-effects of the selfie age.

Michelle Dean

The immature artist imitates. Mature artists steal.

Lionel Trilling

Men of real talents in Arms have commonly approved themselves patrons of the liberal arts and friends to the poets, of their own as well as former times. In some instances by acting reciprocally, heroes have made poets, and poets heroes.

George Washington

I do not remember where I read that there are two kinds of poets: the good poets, who at a certain point destroy their bad poems and go off to run guns in Africa, and the bad poets, who publish theirs and keep writing more until they die.