Glossing on Authorship

When does glossing become an authorial act? Can citation become a creative act?
When does glossing become an authorial act? Can citation become a creative act?
In "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science" (Atlantic Monthly, October 2010), David H. Freedman takes jabs at what he describes as the scientific fallacy behind most medical research.
What is it about the human (Western?) mind that compels us to think in narratives?
“Il faut souffrir doucement les loix de nostre condition. Nous sommes pour vieillir, pour affoiblir, pour estre malades, en despit de toute medecine."