The key word here is ethical. I get inspired by lots of folks, lift and promptly credit their quotes, and go off on my own tangent. That to me is part of the fun of Medium. However, just as with the speaking industry and the comedy biz, rookies steal. They outright rip people off. Even the late, great Robin Williams stole jokes. I suspect Shakespeare did too, and there are plenty of scholars who would make that argument.

We are always ISO new material. If I am home too long, I find myself looking for ideas. Medium is a hotbed, but under no circumstances would I plagiarize. If you’re so short of material you have to steal, then I might strongly suggest you go out and live a while. Tends to give you lots if ideas, living does.

This written from inside a rather chilly Mongolian ger, just before the start of the Eagle Festival, where when I wake up everything liquid is frozen solid. I can’t speak for anyone else but by the time I get home it would be fair to say that I have a shitload of new material after five weeks here. But hey. That’s just me.