Breaking New Ground

The James Clear email contained a quote from poet, philosopher, and Nobel Prize winner Paul Valéry which said, “All great undertakings do not consist of doing again what others have done before, but in recapturing the spirit that went into what they did—and would have done differently in a different age.”
AI listed a few similar quotes. Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Joseph Campbell: "For we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us." And one I particularly like by Winona LaDuke: "Let us be the ancestors our descendants will thank."
I am pursuing this line of thought as this is an area I really like but have had trouble with.  The trouble took the form of reinventing the wheel.  I so know not to do that but I so often got caught up in an activity and found myself doing what had already been done.  Ok it was just spreadsheets to record activities but so often I would spend hours doing something only to discover it had been done before and using it could have saved me hours of effort.
That aside though I have held to the idea that to find out the way it is best to consult those that have gone before.  Once upon a time that would have referred to physical paths to physical places, whereas these days it has a lot to do with pathways of the mind.
So often something someone I admire says inspires me to further thought or action.  It has never for me been a global impact thing but it has been a local impact thing.  I do not know what the future holds, but I do know that my future is full of possibilities.
I want to break new ground and as the quote says, not doing again what others have done before, but in recapturing the spirit that went into what they did.  A spirit of adventure takes what is known and breaks new ground.  Hopefully I can be an ancestor descendants can thank.