In Lessigs notion about quotation and citation he talked about a

friend who could write beautifully and did so by using quotations

and citations in his works. He also talked about how he was an
insanely careful reader (Lessig 52). However according to Lessig,
other composers would have looked down on his gifted friend for
the techniques he uses. Lessig brings up the question Why is it
weird to need permission to use a quote (Lessig 52). This is an
interesting question since we all do it in our works. Quotes and
citations allow our works to be adequate and interesting. Building
off others is how we develop the creativity we need to get that
first initial spark when writing. This brings up another important
thought; Lessig talks about how in the traditional sense of words
placed on paper, are the ultimate form of democratic creativity
(Lessig 52). What we need to understand is that creativity is tough.
It is something you are either born with or you struggle with your
entire life. So having the ability to spark your creativity by building
off of others is a great strategy to possibly unlock some of the
ideas you may have in your head. In The social Life of paper
Gladwell discusses the importance of traditional paper and ink
(Gladwell 92). Gladwell stresses the importance of paper stating
that it enables a certain type of thinking (Gladwell 93). Going
back to Lessigs idea of democratic creativity, maybe this is the
key needed to unlock those ideas that we may have (Lessig 52), In
my opinion, Gladwell is trying to say that we all have the ability to
create our own ideas we just need to try going back to old fashion

paper and pen. People also try to stray away from paper because
it can become messy. However, the messiness of paper allows it to
be spatially flexible, meaning that we can spread it out and
arrange it in a way that suits us best (Gladwell 93). This flexibility
allows us to let ideas flow and express our ideas the instant we
think of them.