As once mentioned by Johann Goethe, "One can be instructed in society..."  In society, as you are all in now, you are taught concepts which seem all but tangible: how to structure sound arguments, the classification of everything on and off this planet, and perhaps some new equation to rationalize any amount of numbers.  What can we do with all that we learn?  After all, information is only as good as you know how to use it; so I ask you "How well do you truly understand?"
	Goethe continues afterwards with "one is inspired only in solitude."  Without inspiration, humans are no more than machines, restating such facts given to them with no reason sans rote memorization.  People, varying in degrees of magnitude, are inspired by what knowledge they are taught.  Such an idea as "inspiration" happens to be that link in the usefulness of what we are taught.  What use is knowing such words and comprehending the meaning of a sentence, and even being capable of writing if one is not inspired to write?  Will such a person write everlastingly until the spark of creativity comes, or succumb to the frustration and write with a "dead voice," a voice without any life?
	Inspiration serves a grandeur purpose for every mass of people, every civilization and anybody in between; oftentimes it serves as the underlying principle in true comprehension from intangible knowledge to understanding.  Through it, we can experience enlightenment on levels declared even to be divine.
	So then, how do people get inspired?  Of course, there is more than one way to explain and rationalize such a phenomena.  Some may claim it is the hands of whichever deity of your belief, while others call upon the assistance of the Greek Daemons or the Roman Genii.  It is, however, away from any religious jargon, the feeling of frustration: that very moment where the circumstances of life make for an impenetrable wall halting even the most ambitious character.  In this failure, weakness if you will, the knowledge of it and the wisdom gained from the steps taken in your life make up for your battering ram, your only weapon against this new-found barrier in life.  In all, it is a failure which bestows you with inspiration; so, be not pained by their arrival, as such is inevitable, it is better to be thankful for them.
	Goethe also, at a different time, was quoted saying "all truly wise thoughts have been thoughts already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience."  With whatever epiphany comes along with surmounting the "impenetrable wall" mentioned earlier, it is wise to note that, unless you are leading some field of study, such inspiration isn't something completely foreign to the world, maybe not even to another from those around you.  Inspiration could even come from the assistance of those whom have succeeded in reaching such a level of understanding; much like a school-age child re-explaining a teacher's lecture to a fellow pupil.  As a common saying goes, "if you can't explain it in your own words, you don't really understand it."  Much is what Goethe means with thoughts taking "root in our personal experience."
	People, as social as they are, usually have ambitions to reach for the stars in the heavens, and above.  Even seeing people so readied for their goals can inspire another.  People look to those who "stick out of the crowd," whether it be for infamy or the less notorious.  Being wealthy in a poverty-stricken slum might be the inspiration to become a philanthropist, assisting to lessen the burden on those in such situations, and likewise, living around those more wealthy might be enough for one to aspire to become their equivalent.  Much like an eloquent argument, a strong desire will oftentimes inspire those around to aspire for similar.