“A poor original is better than a good imitation.”

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Ella Wheeler Wilcox 46

American author and poet 1850–1919

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Source: The Genius of Christianity or the Spirit and Beauty of the Christian Religion

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“The original writer is not he who refrains from imitating others, but he who can be imitated by none.”

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L’écrivain original n’est pas celui qui n’imite personne, mais celui que personne ne peut imiter.
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1979) 3rd edition
Variant translations:
The original style is not the style which never borrows of any one, but that which no other person is capable of reproducing.
As translated by Charles I. White (1856) Part 2, Book 1, Chapter 3
An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1980) 15th edition.
Le génie du Christianisme (1802)