About this quote

Originality is a myth we use to paralyze ourselves before we even start. Every single word in the dictionary has already been used billions of times by thousands of different people. Your job as a creator is not to invent a brand-new language from scratch. You just need to rearrange the existing building blocks in a way that feels true to you. Stop waiting for a magical spark of untouched inspiration and start working with the tools already in your hands.

When to use it

• You are staring at a blank document trying to write a history essay, feeling stuck because every sentence sounds like something you read in a textbook. You tell yourself to just get the ideas down anyway, since nobody expects you to invent new words.
• Your marketing team is arguing over a new slogan, trying to find a phrase that has never been uttered in human history. You remind them that the best campaigns use simple, familiar language put together in a slightly fresh way.
• You are learning to write songs on the guitar but feel discouraged because you are only using four basic chords that every pop song uses. You laugh off the imposter syndrome and realize that even the greatest bands recycled the exact same chords.