Ruby said there were many songs that you could not say anybody in particular had made by himself. A song went around from fiddler to fiddler and each one added something and took something away so that in time the song became a different thing from what it had been, barely recognizable in either tune or lyric. But you could not say the song had been improved, for as was true of all human effort, there was never advancement. Everything added meant something lost, and about as often as not the thing lost was preferable to the thing gained, so that over time we'd be lucky if we just broke even. Any thought otherwise was empty pride. Charles Frazier
About This Quote

Everything we create is a result of people who came before us. So, in a way, our most important task is to be good enough to pass on our knowledge and wisdom to the younger generations so that they can continue having meaningful conversations with their future generations. There is no reason why we should hold onto things that don’t help us grow, especially when there are other people who are willing to share what they have learned with us. When we pass on our knowledge, we don’t want someone else to take it away from us.

Source: Cold Mountain

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