Most of the world would be surprised to know how few of our thoughts are really original with ourselves. What we write and say is, for the most part, a kind of mosaic interweaving of ideas and recollections gathered together out of other people’s talk or books. The combination and rearrangement of them is about all we can call our own. When a man does really evolve an original thought out of his own mind, it is the exception, rather than the rule. It is usually the fruit, either of patient study, or of fresh and vivid experience.
![William Henry Seward by John Phillips older gentleman with grey hair in formal evening dress (black suit jacket and waiste coat and bowtie) with his right hand raised to his temple as if he is thinking](https://sewardhouse.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/2019.1.1%20WHS%20online.jpg?itok=EcDJohjN)
William Henry Seward by John Phillips
c. 1856
Oil painting on canvas, painted by Scottish-born painter John Philip, commissioned by George Washington Patterson, Lt. Governor and Congressman of NY and friend of Seward. John Philip (1817-1867) was a Victorian era Scottish painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life.