Quotations on Imitation

There is much difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him.

~ Benjamin Franklin

Every man is a borrower and a mimic; life is theatrical and literature a quotation.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Insist on yourself; never imitate.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Men are so constituted that every one undertakes what he sees another successful in, whether he has aptitude for it or not.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

~ Eric Hoffer

The only good imitations are those that poke fun at bad originals.

~ Francois de La Rochefoucauld

To copy others is necessary, but to copy oneself is pathetic.

~ Pablo Picasso

Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.

~ Samuel Johnson

No man ever yet became great by imitation.

~ Samuel Johnson

We are, in truth, more than half of what we are by imitation.

~ Earl of Chesterfield

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

~ Charles Caleb Colton

Imitation belittles.

~ Christian Nestell Bovee

Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire.

~ Christian Nestell Bovee