As I approach my 88th birthday it's become apparent to me that my eyes and ears among other appurtenances aren't quite what they used to be. The prospect of long flights to wherever in search of whatever are not quite as appealing.
That is why the analogy of stealing does not work. With a thief we want to know how much money he stole and from whom. With the artist it is not how much he took and from whom but what he did with it.