What Stallybrass means in his declaration, “you are not, nor should you be, the origin of your own thoughts (anymore than the origin of your own voice),” is that thought itself is inherently dependent upon the observation and study of pre-existing ideas and concepts introduced by others. That is to say, no individual idea can be spontaneously generated; there must be a preceding impression.

With respect to a research project, this tidbit holds true in that no thorough research can exist without a strong foundation of precursive evidence or ideas with which to formulate a new thought or perspective.