Neither praise or blame is the object of true criticism. Justly to discriminate, firmly to establish, wisely to prescribe, and honestly to award. These are the true aims and duties of criticism.
—William Gilmore Simms (1806–70) American Poet, Historian, Novelist, Editor
If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Even the lion has to defend himself against flies.
—German Proverb
Give a critic an inch, he’ll write a play.
—John Steinbeck (1902–68) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Journalist
What a blessed thing it is, that Nature, when she invented, manufactured, and patented her authors, contrived to make critics out of the chips that were left!
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
For if there is anything to one’s praise, it is foolish vanity to be gratified at it, and if it is abuse—why one is always sure to hear of it from one damned good-natured friend or another!
—Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816) Irish-born British Playwright, Poet, Elected Rep
People want you to be a crazy, out-of-control teen brat. They want you miserable, just like them. They don’t want heroes; what they want is to see you fall.
—Leonardo DiCaprio (b.1974) American Actor, Film Producer
He who throws dirt always loses ground.
—Indian Proverb
Has anybody ever seen a dramatic critic in the daytime? Of course not. They come out after dark, up to no good.
—P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) British Novelist, Short-story Writer, Playwright
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don’t start measuring her limbs.
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Artist
If you have no will to change it, you have no right to criticize it.
—Unknown
To criticize is to appreciate, to appropriate, to take intellectual possession, to establish in fine a relation with the criticized thing and to make it one’s own.
—Henry James (1843–1916) American-born British Novelist, Writer
I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can’t be done. I deem that the very best time to make the effort.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
Reviewers are usually people who would have been, poets, historians, biographer, if they could. They have tried their talents at one thing or another and have failed; therefore they turn critic.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Criticism is an indirect form of self-boasting.
—Emmet Fox (1886–1951) Irish-American New Thought Leader
In most modern instances, interpretation amounts to the philistine refusal to leave the work of art alone. Real art has the capacity to make us nervous. By reducing the work of art to its content and then interpreting that, one tames the work of art. Interpretation makes art manageable, conformable.
—Susan Sontag (1933–2004) American Writer, Philosopher
In the finest critics one hears the full cry of the human. They tell one why it matters to read.
—Harold Bloom (1930–2019) American Literary Critic, Author
A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
What distinguishes modern art from the art of other ages is criticism.
—Octavio Paz (1914–98) Mexican Poet, Diplomat
It behooves the minor critic, who hunts for blemishes, to be a little distrustful of his own sagacity.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer
Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
—Donald Rumsfeld (1932–2021) U.S. Secretary of Defense
Coughing in the theatre is not a respiratory ailment. It is a criticism.
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–86) American Lyricist, Librettist
Honest criticism means nothing: what one wants is unrestrained passion, fire for fire.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
When a man spends his time giving his wife criticism and advice instead of compliments, he forgets that it was not his good judgment, but his charming manners, that won her heart.
—Helen Rowland (1875–1950) American Journalist, Humorist
Critics are those who have failed in literature and art.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Each generation produces its squad of “moderns” with peashooters to attack Gibraltar.
—Channing Pollock (1880–1946) American Playwright, Critic
Doubtless criticism was originally benignant, pointing out the beauties of a work rather than its defects.—The passions of men have made it malignant, as the bad heart of Procrustes turned the bed, the symbol of repose, into an instrument of torture.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Court not the critic’s smile nor dread his frown.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Good critical writing is measured by the perception and evaluation of the subject; bad critical writing by the necessity of maintaining the professional standing of the critic.
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) American Novelist
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