Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.
—Frank A. Clark
Never trust the artist. Trust the tale. The proper function of a critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
It is from the womb of art that criticism was born.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
People ask for criticism, but they only want praise.
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
A good drama critic is one who perceives what is happening in the theatre of his time. A great drama critic also perceives what is not happening.
—Kenneth Tynan (1927–80) English Theatre Critic, Writer
You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
You’re never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you’re never as bad as they say when you lose.
—Lou Holtz (1893–1980) American Stage Performer
The critical opinions of a writer should always be taken with a large grain of salt. For the most part, they are manifestations of his debate with himself as to what he should do next and what he should avoid.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
Contemporary criticism only represents the amount of ignorance genius has to contend with.
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) English Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist
The person of analytic or critical intellect finds something ridiculous in everything. The person of synthetic or constructive intellect, in almost nothing.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn–and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Opinion often consists of a kind of criticism. But criticism can come out of love.
—Robert Frank (1924–2019) American Photographer, Documentary Filmmaker
There are two insults no human will endure: the assertion that he has no sense of humor and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has never known trouble.
—Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
You should not say it is not good. You should say you do not like it; and then, you know, you’re perfectly safe.
—James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) American Painter, Etcher
Most of us are umpires at heart; we like to call balls and strikes on somebody else.
—Leo Aikman (1908–78) American Columnist
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
When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.
—Anonymous
There is a certain justice in criticism. The critic is like a midwife—a tyrannical midwife.
—Stephen Spender (1909–95) English Poet, Critic
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
Criticism of government finds sanctuary in several portions of the 1st Amendment. It is part of the right of free speech. It embraces freedom of the press.
—Hugo Black (1886–1971) American Politician, Jurist
Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
Let us consider the critic, therefore, as a discoverer of discoveries.
—Milan Kundera (b.1929) Czech Novelist
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
The strength of criticism lies in the weakness of the thing criticized.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Creationist critics often charge that evolution cannot be tested, and therefore cannot be viewed as a properly scientific subject at all. This claim is rhetorical nonsense.
—Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) American Paleontologist
Criticism is often not a science; it is a craft, requiring more good health than wit, more hard work than talent, more habit than native genius. In the hands of a man who has read widely but lacks judgment, applied to certain subjects it can corrupt both its readers and the writer himself.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well; the chiefest part of which is to observe those excellencies which delight a reasonable reader
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
The artist doesn’t have time to listen to the critics. The ones who want to be writers read the reviews. The ones who want to write don’t have the time to read reviews.
—William Faulkner (1897–1962) American Novelist
No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don’t knock your friends. Don’t knock your enemies. Don’t knock yourself.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
A good review from the critics is just another stay of execution.
—Dustin Hoffman (b.1937) American Actor, Filmmaker
The person who offends writes as if it was written on sand, and the person who is offended reads it as if it were written on marble.
—Italian Proverb
Every writer is necessarily a critic — that is, each sentence is a skeleton accompanied by enormous activity of rejection; and each selection is governed by general principles concerning truth, force, beauty, and so on. The critic that is in every fabulist is like the iceberg — nine-tenths of him is under water.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
A critic is a man who prefers the indolence of opinion to the trials of action.
—John Mason Brown (1900–69) American Columnist, Journalist, Author
The avocation of assessing the failures of better men can be turned into a comfortable livelihood, providing you back it up with a Ph.D.
—Nelson Algren (1909–81) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
I have never believed that the critic is the rival of the poet, but I do believe that criticism is a genre of literature or it does not exist.
—Harold Bloom (1930–2019) American Literary Critic, Author
No matter how well you perform there’s always somebody of intelligent opinion who thinks it’s lousy.
—Laurence Olivier (1907–89) English Actor, Producer, Director
Many receive a criticism and think it is fine; think they got their money’s worth; think well of the teacher for it, and then go on with their work just the same as before. That is the reason much of the wisdom of Plato is still locked up in the pages of Plato.
—Robert Henri (1865–1929) American Painter, Teacher
It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
—William Lonsdale Watkinson
There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behooves any of us to find fault with the rest of us.
—Unknown
The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.
—Robert E. Lee (1807–70) Confederate General during American Civil War
In my conscience I believe the baggage loves me, for she never speaks well of me herself, nor suffers any body else to rail at me.
—William Congreve (1670–1729) English Playwright, Poet
There are two sorts of beauty; one is the result of instinct, the other of study. A combination of the two, with the resulting modifications, brings with it a very complicated richness, which the art critic ought to try to discover.
—Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) French Post-Impressionist Painter
What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past; he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–86) American Essayist, Drama Critic
If I care to listen to every criticism, let alone act on them, then this shop may as well be closed for all other businesses. I have learned to do my best, and if the end result is good then I do not care for any criticism, but if the end result is not good, then even the praise of ten angels would not make the difference.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Most of our censure of others is only oblique praise of self, uttered to show the wisdom and superiority of the speaker. It has all the invidiousness of self-praise, and all the ill-desert of falsehood.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Ridicule may be the evidence of wit or bitterness and may gratify a little mind, or an ungenerous temper, but it is no test of reason or truth.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Court not the critic’s smile nor dread his frown.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Critics don’t bother me because if I do badly, I know I’m bad before they even write it. And if I’m good, I know I’m good. I know best about myself, so a critic doesn’t anger me.
—Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) American Singer
Criticism of others is futile and if you indulge in it often you should be warned that it can be fatal to your career.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Half of the secular unrest and dismal, profane sadness of modern society comes from the vain ideas that every man is bound to be a critic for life.
—Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852–1933) American Author, Educator, Clergyman
We are not trying to entertain the critics. I’ll take my chances with the public.
—Walt Disney (1901–66) American Entrepreneur
Without the meditative background that is criticism, works become isolated gestures, historical accidents, soon forgotten.
—Milan Kundera (b.1929) Czech Novelist
Every job looks easy when you’re not the one doing it.
—Jeffrey Immelt (b.1956) American Businessperson
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
Concern over criticism clogs creativity.
—Duane Alan Hahn
When we speak evil of others, we generally condemn ourselves.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
It’s too easy to criticize a man when he’s out of favor, and to make him shoulder the blame for everybody else’s mistakes.
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian Novelist
Before you go and criticize the younger generation, just remember who raised them.
—Unknown
A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
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, Novelist, Historian
Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son. You never walked in that man’s shoes.
—Elvis Presley (1935–77) American Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Actor
Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
We have been educated to such a fine — or dull — point that we are incapable of enjoying something new, something different, until we are first told what it’s all about. We don’t trust our five senses; we rely on our critics and educators, all of whom are failures in the realm of creation. In short, the blind lead the blind. It’s the democratic way.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
It is healthier, in any case, to write for the adults one’s children will become than for the children one’s “mature” critics often are.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
A critic is a man who knows the way but can’t drive the car.
—Kenneth Tynan (1927–80) English Theatre Critic, Writer
The whole effort of a sincere man is to erect his personal impressions into laws.
—Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915) French Poet, Novelist, Critic
I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.
—Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) American Painter
There is no defense against criticism except obscurity.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
A good writer is not necessarily a good book critic. No more so than a good drunk is automatically a good bartender.
—Jim Bishop (1907–87) American Journalist, Author
I like people to come back and tell me what I did wrong. That’s the kindest thing you can do.
—Lillian Gish (1896–1993) American Actress
Literary critics, however, frequently suffer from a curious belief that every author longs to extend the boundaries of literary art, wants to explore new dimensions of the human spirit, and if he doesn’t, he should be ashamed of himself.
—Robertson Davies (1913–95) Canadian Novelist, Playwright, Essayist
Most people have been brainwashed into believing that their job is to copyedit the world, not to design it.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Self criticism must be my guide to action, and the first rule for its employment is that in itself it is not a virtue, only a procedure.
—Kingsley Amis (1922–95) English Novelist, Poet
It is ridiculous for any man to criticize the works of another if he has not distinguished himself by his own performances.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American Humorist, Journalist
The author himself is the best judge of his own performance; none has so deeply meditated on the subject; none is so sincerely interested in the event.
—Edward Gibbon (1737–94) English Historian, Politician
One mustn’t criticize other people on grounds where he can’t stand perpendicular himself.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
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
The pleasure of criticism takes from us that of being deeply moved by very beautiful things.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
A man has generally the good or ill qualities which he attributes to mankind.
—William Shenstone (1714–63) British Poet, Landscape Gardener
One ought to look a good deal at oneself before thinking of condemning others.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
It is ridiculous for any man to criticize the works of another who has not distinguished himself by his own performance.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
It is harder to avoid censure than to gain applause, for this may be done by one great or wise action in an age; but to escape censure a man must pass his whole life without saying or doing one ill or foolish thing.
—David Hume (1711–76) Scottish Philosopher, Historian
I criticize by creation – not by finding fault.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Do not remove a fly from your friend’s forehead with a hatchet.
—Chinese Proverb
Censure is often useful, praise often deceitful.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
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
If we judge ourselves only by our aspirations and everyone else only by their conduct, we shall soon reach a very false conclusion.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them.
—Jackie Collins (1937–2015) English Romance Novelist
Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.
—Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) Finnish Composer
A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
Social criticism begins with grammar and the re-establishing of meanings.
—Octavio Paz (1914–98) Mexican Poet, Diplomat
What distinguishes modern art from the art of other ages is criticism.
—Octavio Paz (1914–98) Mexican Poet, Diplomat
I’d rather be hissed at for a good verse, than applauded for a bad one.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Ten censure wrong, for one that writes amiss.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
If your heart acquires strength, you will be able to remove blemishes from others without thinking evil of them.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader