Steal like an artist
by Austin Kleon · first published 2012
58% recommend42% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short, engaging read on how creativity builds on borrowing: pick heroes, absorb their work, make your own. Practical advice without fluff, and useful for programmers, makers, and anyone with a short attention span.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
When asked to talk to students at Broome Community College in upstate New York in the spring of 2011, Austin Kleon wrote a simple list often things he wished he'd heard when he was their age: 'Steal like an artist; Don't wait until you know who you are to start making things; Write the book you want to read; Use your hands; Side projects are important; Do good work and put it where people can see it; Geography is no longer our master; Be nice (the world is a small town.); Be boring (it's the only way to get work done.); and, Creativity is subtraction.' After giving the speech, he posted the te
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…your soul, and creating that music fulfills you, then who’s to say exploring those genres is a mistake? There are other measures of success than recognition. Austin Kleon puts this especially well in “Steal Like An Artist.” He says that you can cut off some of your passions, and try to focus on one thing, but eventually you will “feel the pain of the phantom limb.”
on “The Case Against Reading Everything” ↗…pianist and painter for many years) Well, maybe I was too young to appreciate it before. Books I'd read before, but read at least twice more this year: the Zanders' Art of Possibility, Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist and Share Your Work!. Various essays of G.K. Chesterton and Robert Louis Stevenson.
on “Ask HN: What is the best non-tech book you read this year?” ↗Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative is a great book on similar themes. (The sequel Show Your Work! is also good) Also Creating a Life Worth Living had a huge impact on me - it's full of interviews…
on “Clive James Got It Right” ↗Steal Like An Artist bypasses all the middle-brow arguments about superficial copying versus deep understanding. You can attempt to learn from the comments here but the faster way is reading that book. Perfectly captures…
on “Identify a remarkable trait in anyone, then either copy or avoid it” ↗I recommend reading Austin Kleon's 'Steal Like an Artist' for a more thorough discussion: http://amzn.com/B0074QGGK6
on “Imitate. We are imperfect mirrors” ↗…original ideas--and entrepreneurs who want you to sign NDAs to protect their "great ideas"--are the ones who have never made anything on their own. There are entire books on this subject. Austin Kleon's "Steal Like an Artist" is perhaps the most engaging one right now. Get it. Read it. Quit putting "ideas" on a pedestal.
on “Houston, We Have A Public Domain Problem” ↗It's Steal Like an Artist for me by Austin Kleon. It's such a quick read perfect for my short attention span. It packs so much advice without the fluff.
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?” ↗Steal like an Artist by Austin Kleon for me. It's a quick read perfect for my short attention span. It packs a lot of practical advice without the fluff.
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?” ↗For people wanting to dig into this idea some more, I'd recommend the book by Austin Kleon called "Steal Like An Artist." Also, there is some nuance in the book about copying and stealing, without being a thief.
on “The curse of knowing how, or; fixing everything” ↗…Ghost, Hugo, DragonRuby, Unity- you must know the names and one line descriptions first, in order to use them as pieces in your software. I wrote what I know. I hope it helps you. Although Austin Kleon's "Steal Like an Artist" is written for the creator economy, beginner programmers can learn from it. "Don't start with a blank page"- is an important lesson. May I get the name of the DSA book that your friend read three times?
on “How did you mastered the art of programming?” ↗…light. I was surprised to see how much of my anger and frustration in life was a coping mechanism to help me get things done. I've had a much calmer life since recognizing that. Austin Kleon's trilogy: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work, Keep Going. These books were cute, full of incredibly quotable passages, and fun to read. I didn't spend enough time on them, though. A lot of the lessons I thought I'd learned left my…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗…as your five fingers (it'll keep you months). - IDE by JetBrains. - Stripe (save days on connecting billing for fair price). - Books: Lean startup (foundation), Think and grow rich (don't give up), Steal like an artist (a vision). - Forum: IndieHackers (it'll motivate you). - Notion for docs, tasks, plans, ideas.
on “Ask HN: Great tools for solo SaaS founders?” ↗…Elements of Computing Systems • The Death of Common Sense • Up the Organization • The Personal MBA • The Wisdom of No-Escape • The Adapted Mind • Brain Rules • Getting Things Done • On Writing • Steal Like An Artist • George Orwell: A Collection of Essays And these are technically not books, but Glenn Greenwald's "Speech to the Massachusetts ACLU" and the Christopher Hitchens speech criticizing the proposed Canadian…
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗Maybe all creativity is just mimics who repeat things and add a little bit of variation. I think the book Steal Like an Artist addresses this.
on “TikTok and the network effects of creativity” ↗…You have to be at your keyboard or lab bench or whatever enough to make things. But if you are there too much your creativity plummets. I agree, one of the ideas that I started applying from the book "steal like an artist" involved having an analog and a digital desk for work. You have creative ideas and brainstorm at the analog desk, then document, iterate, and refine your ideas at the digital desk.
on “What “work” looks like” ↗