Dorothy Thompson Quotes

I'm not trying to copy Nature, I'm trying to find the principles she's using.

All of our ideas come from the natural world: trees equal umbrellas.

There is no better designer then nature

You see nature and then you try to emulate it.

Those who are inspired by a model other than Nature, labor in vain.

There is no better designer than nature

Architects cannot teach nature anything.

Nothing in the world can be more exciting than to create something and see it work.

Some of us have great original ideas and some of us depend on adaptations.

We call ourselves creators and we just copy.

Nobody really invents anything that hasn't been done before.

The big artist keeps an eye on nature and steals her tools.

I believe really strongly in imitation, actually: I think it's the first place you need to go to if you're going to be able to understand how something works. True mimicry is actually quite difficult.

I spend my money on my props and my creations. I'm an inventor.

I invent nothing, I rediscover.

Nature has provided us a spectacular toolbox. The toolbox exists. An architect far better and smarter than us has given us that toolbox, and we now have the ability to use it.

My training and my inclination is to invent.

You can't make experimental work by copying past work.

The next Bill Gates will not start an operating system. The next Larry Page won't start a search engine. The next Mark Zuckerberg won't start a social network company. If you are copying these people, you are not learning from them.

I can't bear living in this huge beautiful world and not try to imitate it as best I can.

Creating something is all about problem-solving.

If you're not observing the world around you, in some sense you're not really an artist because then that means you're just replicating other people's stuff, or, I don't even know what you're doing.

I think we always move from imitation to assimilation to innovation, but I can't name you 20 people outside those we've already recognized who ever got to point three: innovation.

A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great.

I would urge everyone to start looking at the world in a different way. Spend some time looking at everyday objects, at their design, their shape, their individual characteristics. Think ahead and imagine their significance.