In any field of endeavor, it is impossible to make a significant contribution without first being strongly influenced by past achievements within that field.

Do we really need to be strongly influenced from past before we can contribute something significant to the society? Can we not use our imagination to invent something new? On a deep observation and scrutiny the answer will definitely be a no. One can make significant contribution without any past influences.

The statement concludes that it is impossible to achieve something significant without being influenced by past. However, not all the past achievements are significant or absolutely right. For instance, had Galileo been influenced by the Church he could never have concluded that earth is not at the center of universe. There is no guarantee that what someone proved in past is true. They can be completely wrong as in the case of the Church and Galileo.

Moreover, many times we do not have the virtue of learning from past experience. We have to start from starch and rely on our own imagination. For example, before Wright brothers nobody had flew an airplane. They did not have any aid of past influences. Similar is the case of Newton - discovered gravity, Henry Ford - invented assembly line, Bell - invented telephone etc. This clearly shows that one only need imagination and faculty to invent something and contribute to the society.

However, past achievements do provide us with invaluable experience. One can only achieve perfection by learning from past mistakes. For all of our modern technology has evolved from past - simple mobiles phones to smart phones, cars to automatic driver less cars, gas stove to microwave etc. Also, contributions of people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg to technology are now inspiring millions of children. It is also not uncommon to see famous people also being influenced by someone in past - The Killers in music are influenced by Queen, Narendra Modi in politics is influenced by A. Lincon.

In sum, one does not need any influence from past achievements in order to contribute something significant. Past does not always provide correct influences and sometimes past achievements are insignificant today. Imagination rather than past influence is more valuable to invent something new.