“Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.”

— Man Ray

As quoted in Photographers on Photography : A Critical Anthology (1966) by Nathan Lyons, p. 80 
Context: Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask "how", while others of a more curious nature will ask "why". Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.

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American artist and photographer 1890–1976

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Man Ray (1890–1976) American artist and photographer

"Originals Graphics Multiples" (1973) 
Context: An original is a creation motivated by desire.
Any reproduction of an original is motivated by necessity.
The original is the result of an automatic process, the reproduction, of a mechanical process. In other words: Inspiration then information; each validates the other.
All other considerations are beyond the scope of these statements.
It is marvelous that we are the only species that creates gratuitous forms. To create is divine, to reproduce is human.