imporatance of citations

We have been asked why we think its important to cite other people's work. I believe its important to give credit where credit is due. Even though we have plagiarism rules, the principle behind these rules should be obvious to someone citing a particular piece of work. If proper references are not made then it should be and is looked upon as stealing. Intellectual work although not physical like a car or jewelry is often times just as precious and important to the owner and should be treated as so.