Ζιντ

I must stop puffing up my pride (in this notebook) just for the sake of doing as Stendhal did. The spirit of imitation; watch out for it. It is useless to do something simply because another man has done it. One must remember the rule of conduct of the great after having isolated it from the contingent facts of their lives, rather than imitating the little facts.
Dare to be yourself. I must underline that in my head too.
Don't ever do anything through affectation or to make people like you or through imitation or for the pleasure of contradicting. -Από τα Ημερολόγια του Αντρέ Ζιντ