diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2c1a703..bbfffde 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -130,6 +130,27 @@ cargo build --workspace
 cargo test --workspace
 ```
 
+## Inspiration
+
+Deathproof is directly inspired by:
+
+- Coffman, Elphick, and Shoshani's classic
+  ["System Deadlocks"](https://people.cs.umass.edu/~mcorner/courses/691J/papers/TS/coffman_deadlocks/coffman_deadlocks.pdf)
+  (1971) -- the four necessary and sufficient conditions for deadlock.
+  Break any one and deadlock is impossible.
+- [`happylock`](https://crates.io/crates/happylock) -- capability-token
+  locking with `LockCollection` sorted acquisition and `Lockable` trait.
+  Deathproof borrows the core design (capability token, sorted lock sets,
+  `Lockable` trait with tuple impls) but replaces address-based ordering
+  with a stable monotonic `LockId` counter, removes the `std` requirement,
+  and adds GDP-style compile-time proofs.
+- [`lock_tree`](https://crates.io/crates/lock_tree) (Google Fuchsia) --
+  compile-time DAG of lock levels enforced via `LockAfter` trait bounds.
+  Deathproof adopts the `LockAfter` trait concept for cross-category
+  ordering but applies it to coarse-grained categories rather than
+  per-instance levels, avoiding the same-level limitation and O(N^2)
+  per-instance compile cost.
+
 ## License
 
 Licensed under either of