I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky.
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics: Plagiarize!
Plagiarize,
Let no one else's work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,
So don't shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize...
[Only be sure always to call it please, "research".]

For Tom Lehrer's full text see http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/lobachev.htm