“[I]n truth, in literature, in science and in art, there are, and can be, few, if any, things, which in an abstract sense, are strictly new and original throughout. Every book in literature, science and art, borrows, and must necessarily borrow, and use much which was well known and used before.”

It is a great quote, although it has a lot of commas. Strunk and White were probably horrified if they ever read this quote.