"I believe that nothing comes of nothing, even in Shakespeare. I wanted to know where he got the matter he was working with and what he did with that matter"

This quote by Stephen Greenblatt speaks with the idea that imagination and artistry do not come from nothing. Even the terrific works of William Shakespeare, among the most prominent playwrights of all time, did not originate from absolutely nothing. Greenblatt is suggesting that Shakespeare needed to have actually gotten his material from somewhere, and then used that product to create his works. This implies that creativity and artistry require some sort of source material, which the artist needs to then use their own ability and imagination to change that product into something brand-new. Greenblatt's quote talks to the concept that creativity is not something that can be conjured out of thin air, however rather something that needs to be cultivated and developed from existing sources.