Good Writers Borrow

Great Writers Steal – T.S. Elliot

I like quotes.

If you’ve been reading me for any length of time this won’t surprise, you.

The best quotes resonate. They convey meaning concisely and usually much better than I ever could. Chances are if I have something to say someone else has probably already said it and said better than I ever could.

How do I know this? Well, for starters, because even that last line wasn’t mine.

“Chances are, everything you want to say has already been said. Probably better. By someone more articulate. “

— Anonymous

“Articulate.” Good word. I should have thought of that.

The quote continues:

“and they’re probably more attractive than you, too”

But I don’t see any reason to be hurtful. The truth is bad enough.

The truth is that even Anonymous “borrowed” the idea from the someone else:

“Chances are everything's already been said, but since no one is paying attention, you have to start all over again.”

-- Joann Sfar, 2002

And Sfar cribbed it as well:

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

-- André Gide (1869 – 1951)

Gide deserves all the credit for this insight. Or he would if he hadn’t pinched it too:

"There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope."

-- Mark Twain

So, the message is: there’s nothing new under the sun.

Not even that last line which is from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

I’m going to have to stop myself here as I’m starting to get that “why do I bother trying” feeling.

You get my drift, though. I like quotes because they sum up what I’m thinking better than I ever could… and with more wit.

So, What’s My Point?

Let’s ignore the repetitive nature of quotations and focus on their utility. The message is what matters, not the originality. Life is complicated. How complicated? Complicated enough to require the publication of between 15,000 and 20,000 self-help books are each year in the United States alone. Categories include:

• Personal Development – goal-setting, time management, productivity

• Motivation & Inspiration – overcoming adversity, personal growth

• Mental Health – anxiety, mindfulness, resilience

• Relationships – romantic, family, workplace

• Career & Success – leadership, decision-making

• Finance & Wealth Building – budgeting, investing, money mindset

• Health & Wellness – diet, fitness, sleep

• Spirituality – purpose, peace, transformation

• Creativity – blocks, burnout, artistic life

Dieting books alone account for 30–50% of sales within the Health, Fitness & Wellness category. That’s $500–800 million per year. Is it any wonder how Jeff Bezos was able to spend between $46 million and $55.6 million on his wedding in late June?

Diet Books, Weddings, and Wilde Quotes

Is there a quote that ties these two topics together and provides a little advice as well? Of course there is

“Everything in moderation.”

-- Oscar Wilde

Do you want to live a healthy life? Maintain a healthy weight? Save you the cost of a diet book?

“Everything in moderation.”

The Bezos’ wedding is another matter though:

• 200 guests

• A $300,000 wedding dress

• Yacht excursions

• High-end hotels like the Aman Venice and the Gritti Palace, which cost around $500,000 per night

“Moderation” is not exactly the word that springs to mind. Luckily Wilde had that covered too:

“Everything in moderation, including moderation.”

-- Oscar Wilde

It’s Ok To Go “A Little” Overboard Occasionally.

$55.6 million is “a little overboard?”

It depends.

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

-- Theodore Roosevelt

Newsweek has pointed out that the wedding was “relatively cheap” given that it amounted to just 0.0193-0.0230 percent of Bezos’ estimated $244 billion net worth. That’s equivalent to you or me spending about $250.

Whether or not you think it’s an example of moderation, going a little overboard, or a “disgusting” display of “conspicuous consumption,” one thing is clear, the Bezoses Bezosis Bezosi Jeff and Lauren are receiving their fair share of criticism. Especially from celebrities including Charlize Theron, Rosie O'Donnell, and Katie Couric. As all three are worth in excess of $100 million I suppose they would know “disgusting” displays of “conspicuous consumption” when they see them.

Why does it seem that the rich resent the very rich so much more than the poor do?

"The rich hate the very rich because they can see, up close, the grotesque unfairness of a system that lets a few have so much more than the merely affluent."

-- Gore Vidal

That doesn’t help Jeff and Laura though, does it? “Money can’t buy happiness” after all. I suppose they can take some solace in the knowledge that they rich enough to let their children to grow up as socialists (Just like future Mayor Mamdani and Ivy League campus protestors).

"I have never understood why it is ‘greed’ to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else’s money."

— Thomas Sowell

The only other words of solace I can provide are from Spike Milligan (or Clare Boothe Luce or Helen Gurley Brown or Groucho Marx, or whoever said it first):

“Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy the kind of misery you can enjoy.”

If you’re worried it’s not enough, remember:

"No man becomes rich unless he enriches others."

-- Andrew Carnegie:

Why not run out and buy another self-help book so Jeff can start saving for his next wedding?

Thank you for reading Hoist the Black Flag

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