“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers with originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
Telling the truth—about our feelings, about our lives, about our triumphs and tragedies, about our singular view of the world—allows us the ability to truly be unique. Because no one has lived your life but you. There is no story that is exactly the same as your own. In other words, Lewis is implying that for artists of faith, the opposite of plagiarism isn’t originality. The opposite of plagiarism is truth.
The End
I was just recently becoming concerned with suddenly sounding too much like someone else. THANK-YOU for this! I feel like you've given me a breath of fresh air, freedom, a license to create.
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