Imitation is made to look like something else. Profoundly inspirational imitation quotes will challenge the way you think, and help guide you through any life experience.
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Famous Imitation Quotes
Imitation is a caricature. Any imitation. Find out for yourself. — Vladimir Horowitz
I think celebrity has become almost normalized. I feel like we all live our lives in a pale imitation of celebrity. With Facebook, we choose a photo that is not too good a photo – we’re more arch than that. We’re our own celebrity publicists. We understand it so innately. — Jess Walter
Long ago, when I was in higher secondary school in Delhi, I read an essay by George Orwell in which he said there was a voice in his head that put into words everything he was seeing. I realised I did that, too, or maybe I started doing it in imitation. — Amitava Kumar
Ignorance and a narrow education lay the foundation of vice, and imitation and custom rear it up. — Mary Astell
Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit. — George Santayana
Admiration of great men, living or dead, naturally evokes imitation of them in a greater or less degree. — Samuel Smiles
Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but clones kind of get it wrong because we are promoting individuality and being proud of being yourself. — Brian Molko
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. — Herman Melville

The human is indissolubly linked with imitation: a human being only becomes human at all by imitating other human beings. — Theodor W. Adorno
Oftentimes in films, the female character, if she’s not the protagonist – and often, even if she is – feels like an imitation of what a woman is. — Tessa Thompson
The Past: Our cradle, not our prison; there is danger as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for inspiration, not imitation, for continuation, not repetition. — Israel Zangwill
Often, I feel like a cheap imitation aesthetically looks better to me than the real, out-of-reach thing. It’s amazing that brands create a whole illusion of exclusivity and luxury, and then you can go get the $5 version of a $30,000 thing and feel the same way but have a cool little secret. — Hunx
I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing. — Mae West
Of what use were the arts if they were only the reproduction and the imitation of life? — Alfred de Vigny
Of course as children, we all, in all cultures and societies, learn behavior from observation, imitation, and encouragement of various kinds. So by the suggestion made, we all ‘pretend’ most of the time. — Gary Gygax
Probably I, like a lot of people, became a writer in imitation of or in homage to the books I enjoyed. When you’re so captivated by something, you think, could I do that? Hmm, let me try. — Curtis Sittenfeld
The Cube is an imitation of life itself – or even an improvement on life. — Erno Rubik
Nature is commonplace. Imitation is more interesting. — Gertrude Stein
Imitation, if it is not forgery, is a fine thing. It stems from a generous impulse, and a realistic sense of what can and cannot be done. — James Fenton
Imitation is the sincerest form of show business. — Roseanne Barr
I did an imitation of him to make the crew laugh. To my shock, there was Cary Grant behind me. He got very angry. I was sent all the way from RKO to David Selznick’s office and was told not to do it anymore. I thought to myself, ‘I must have been pretty good to make him that angry.’ — Shirley Temple
Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another. — Voltaire
My cut is blunt and futuristic, and Nicki Minaj started wearing that bob on her head after she came to my show, so at the end of the day, I know what I do, and I know what I possess, and I know who I am. I’m a trendsetter. The biggest form of flattery is imitation, so I’m flattered. — Lil Mama
Anyone who draws attention to himself as an individual, is viewed with suspicion. We acquired this tendency, of course, from America, and we must resist it: levelling, and imitation of what others are already doing. — Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
To do the opposite of something is also a form of imitation, namely an imitation of its opposite. — Georg C. Lichtenberg
The point of painting is not really deception or imitation. — A. S. Byatt
‘The Imitation Game’ is a very British film. — Morten Tyldum
Belief is not restricted to a brief affirmation based on imitation; rather, it has degrees and stages of development. It is like a seed growing into a fully grown, fruit-bearing tree; like the sun’s image in a mirror or in a drop of water to its images on the sea’s surface and to the sun itself. — Said Nursi
What goes on in abstract art is the proclaiming of aesthetic principles… It is in our own time that we have become aware of pure aesthetic considerations. Art never can be imitation. — Hans Hofmann
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. — Confucius
The reason is that for many years I have avoided reading anything whatsoever that approaches my own line of country, out of a somewhat fanatical desire to avoid the risk of unconscious imitation. — Leslie Charteris
The opponents of this process have always tried to vilify westernization as a poor imitation. — Orhan Pamuk
As I’ve gotten less righteous, less pedagogic, I have become more loving of the artificiality, the art form, the imitation of life in film. — Ira Sachs
When you do an interview with me, you’re talking to a cheap imitation of the person that I really am. There’s no magic in my words, it’s just me talking. — John Mayer
In Silicon Valley, I point out that many of the more successful entrepreneurs seem to be suffering from a mild form of Asperger’s where it’s like you’re missing the imitation, socialization gene. — Peter Thiel
Art should be life. It’s an imitation of life. It should have some humanity in it. — John Lydon
The false is nothing but an imitation of the true. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
It might be hard to remember this far back, but once upon a time, some of us hoped that public TV would develop into a smart, sophisticated, civilized alternative to commercial TV – not a cheap imitation of it. — Tom Shales
Poetry had great powers over me from my childhood, and today the poems live in my memory which I read at the age of 7 or 8 years and which drove me to desperate attempts at imitation. — Bayard Taylor
I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else. — Lena Horne
To be as good as our fathers we must be better, imitation is not discipleship. — Wendell Phillips
How does a poet teach himself or herself? I think chiefly by imitation, chiefly by practising it as a deliberate technical exercise often. Translation, imitation, those were my methods anyway. — Derek Walcott
The best imitation in the world is not half as good as a poor original. — Luise Rainer
They say imitation is the best form of flattery. That is particularly the case if you’re a U.S. presidential candidate and pundits are likening you to a conservative giant like Ronald Reagan. — Chuck Norris
To refrain from imitation is the best revenge. — Marcus Aurelius
You know, there’s so much imitation and so much pandering in Hollywood. — Tom Selleck
Imitation is obviously a great form of flattery. — Peyton Manning
Many people want to be a part of this industry only because of its glamour. What they have to understand is that it takes hard work to make it big. Imitation and bootlicking won’t get you through. — Vijay Krishna Acharya
The bad gains respect through imitation, the good loses it especially in art. — Friedrich Nietzsche
There are works of literature whose influence is strong but indirect because it is mediated through the whole of the culture rather than immediately through imitation. Wordsworth is the case that comes to mind. — J. M. Coetzee
The closer a part is to you, the harder it is to play. Anything else is just imitation. If I’m playing a Russian countess, I get the hat, the accent, the outrageousness. Easy. Playing a murderess? Perfect. — Elaine Stritch
Unfortunately what came out of it was also kind of an imitation community with a lot of mindless conformity. — Bill Griffith
It has always seemed a cruel joke to me that the very word ‘stutter’ is difficult for many stutterers to pronounce. It is onomatopoeic, an imitation of the halting, repetitive sound made by people with this speech dysfunction. — Kate Forsyth
The worst acting is about imitation. — Paul Guilfoyle
Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery. — Joyce Brothers
Men often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing. — Aesop
My favorite movie is ‘Imitation of Life.’ It’s just a true love story, and it really touched me. — Vanna White
I never said, ‘Lady Gaga is a poor imitation of me.’ That was a completely made-up quote. — Roisin Murphy
Most sorts of diversion in men, children and other animals, are in imitation of fighting. — Jonathan Swift
When I was 13, listening to Choice FM, I would listen to a lot of R&B from America, and whenever a British person tried to do it, it didn’t really work, they just sounded like they were trying to copy that whole style. Now the music sounds British, something real rather than an imitation. — Katy B
I love when people say ‘Imitation Game’ is such a crowd pleaser. — Morten Tyldum
All art is but imitation of nature. — Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Rudeness is a weak imitation of strength. — Eric Hoffer
My sister and I were not allowed expensive clothes. We so badly wanted these Fila sneakers as kids, but my mother took us down to the flea market and got imitation ones. Look at the early Destiny’s Child videos. You’ll see. — Solange Knowles
I started a novel right before ‘The Imitation Game,’ so it’s funny now, four years later, to be coming almost back to finishing it. — Graham Moore
The best way of realising our high ideals is to show that we have an alternative in government that is credible, that is radical, and is electable – is neither a pale imitation of what the Tories offer nor is it the route to being a party of permanent protest rather than a party of government. — Gordon Brown
My first year and a half in Hollywood, I did three films. Then in 1959, I was in ‘Gidget,’ ‘Imitation of Life’ and ‘A Summer Place.’ After that, I was a star. It was fun. — Sandra Dee
We are drowning in partisan rhetoric that is just true enough not to be a lie; in industry-sponsored research; in social media’s imitation of human connection; in legalese and corporate double-speak. — Jon Lovett
The oldest theory of art belongs to the Greeks, who regarded art as an imitation (mimesis) of reality. The strength of that theory is that it explains the way in which art takes its materials from real life. — Leland Ryken
For years that may mean imitation. Then, one day, it is like a door opening, and a new thought comes in. Why not try this instead. Suddenly he is doing something original, almost in spite of himself. — Lukas Foss
I’m a very big Notorious B.I.G. fan and I do an imitation of him that always cracks everybody up. — Gene Ween
No man was ever great by imitation. — Samuel Johnson
My art flatters nobody by imitation; it courts nobody by smoothness, tickles nobody by petiteness… there is no finish in nature. — John Constable
Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does. — John Berger
‘Imitation Girl’ is a feature written and directed by Natasha Kermani. She’s one of the founders of Illium Pictures who co-produced ‘Pod.’ — Lauren Ashley Carter
I know imitation is the highest form of flattery, but stealing one’s identity is totally different. — AnnaLynne McCord
Plot, rules, nor even poetry, are not half so great beauties in tragedy or comedy as a just imitation of nature, of character, of the passions and their operations in diversified situations. — Horace Walpole
Hated ‘The Imitation Game.’ Totally inaccurate. A gay man with a messy room? Don’t buy it. — Nell Scovell
The heroes of the present will retreat to the imitation they are anyhow. — Charles Olson
I propose not our enemies as an example for our general imitation, yet, as their navy is the best regulated of any in the world, we must, in some degree, imitate them and aim at such farther improvement as may one day make ours vie with – and exceed – theirs. — John Paul Jones
‘The Imitation Game’ is a celebration of Alan Turing’s life and legacy, and Joan’s final monologue is our eulogy. It’s the thing we all wished we could have said to him. — Graham Moore
For the Chinese, the Greeks, the Mayans, or the Egyptians, nature was a living totality, a creative being. For this reason, art, according to Aristotle, is imitation; the poet imitates the creative gesture of nature. — Octavio Paz
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. — Charles Caleb Colton
Art is not merely an imitation of the reality of nature, but in truth a metaphysical supplement to the reality of nature, placed alongside thereof for its conquest. — Friedrich Nietzsche
Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble. — Samuel Johnson
Meditation is not following any system; it is not constant repetition and imitation. Meditation is not concentration. — Jiddu Krishnamurti
Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it ‘the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.’ The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of ‘Artist.’ — Edgar Allan Poe
Mary’s life was a perfect imitation of Jesus. She was humble, hidden, sorrowful and afflicted, but she also knew joys that never entered the heart of man. She is all things to all men that she might understand their failings, though she failed not. — Mother Angelica
There is no original or primary gender a drag imitates, but gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original. — Judith Butler
In everything truth surpasses the imitation and copy. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
For film fans to support ‘The Imitation Game’ means so much to me, the entire cast and film-making team. — Morten Tyldum
In raising children, we need to continuously keep in mind how we can best create the most favorable environment for their imitative behavior. Everything done in the past regarding imitation must become more and more conscious and more and more consciously connected with the future. — Rudolf Steiner
A long time ago, in a country not so far away, I was eight years old, doing my best Darth Vader imitation. — Hayden Christensen
Art begins in imitation and ends in innovation. — Mason Cooley
My works are an imitation of my own past and present. — Barbara Hepworth
My kitchen is an imitation, really, of my mum’s, except for the big American fridge. — Big Narstie
Now I want to make it plain that ‘The Virgin Spring’ must be regarded as an aberration. It’s touristic, a lousy imitation of Kurosawa. — Ingmar Bergman
When I came up, it was all about originality and collective research. There is an awful lot of imitation going on now. — Steve Lacy
Imitation is the best form of flattery; people generally understand that my comedy is not intended to hurt anybody. Occasionally, an actor might take exception, but they should just understand that it is all done in good humour. — Vivek
All bad Literature rests upon imperfect insight, or upon imitation, which may be defined as seeing at second-hand. — George Henry Lewes
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. — Eleanor Catton
Imitation is the sincerest form of television. — Fred Allen
Since Mary is the prototype of pure womanhood, the imitation of Mary must be the goal of girls’ education. — Edith Stein
I don’t like traditions, I am very personal, very independent, I don’t like intimate ladies, I mean in German lieder there’s a lot of copy, a lot of imitation, a lot of tradition, and this I have put it aside. — Victoria de los Angeles