Return
Home
The
Credits
The
Cast
Act
1
Act
2
Act
3
The
Reviews
     
 

CRITICISM --- CRITICS

.
.
.

CRITICISM

see: "ABUSE"
see: "BLAME"
see: "CALUMNY"
see: "FAULT(S)"
see: "FINDING FAULT"
see: "JUDGE (TO)"
see: "OPINION"
see: "RIDICULE"
see: "COMMUNICATION" for other related links


It is folly for an eminent man to think of escaping
censure, and a weakness to be affected with it.
All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and
indeed of every age in the world, have passed
through this fiery persecution.
--attributed to Joseph Addison (1672—1719)
English essayist, poet, and dramatist.

A thick skin is a gift from God.
--Konrad Adenauer (1876—1967)
German statesman.
Quoted in "N.Y. Times" [30 December 1959].

How good it would be if we could learn to be rigorous
in judgment of ourselves, and gentle in our judgment
of our neighbors! In remedying defects, kindness works
best with others, sternness with ourselves. It is easy to
make allowances for our faults, but dangerous; hard to
make allowances for others' faults, but wise.
--Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858—1901)
American clergyman.
_Thoughts For Everyday Living: From The Spoken And
Written Words Of Maltbie Davenport Babcock_ [1901]

You don't have to blow out the other
fellow's light to let your own shine.
--Bernard Baruch (1870—1965)
American financier.
Quoted in Jon Eisenson & Paul H. Boase _Basic Speech_ [1964].

Downright admonition, as a rule,
is too blunt for the recipient.
--Henry Ward Beecher (1813—1887)
American Congregational minister; brother of
Harriet Beecher Stowe, son of Lyman Beecher.
Quoted in Maturin M. Ballou _Edge-Tools of Speech_, p. 7 [1886].

-

Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's
eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in
your own eye?
--Bible
"Matthew" 7:3


Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
--Bible
"Proverbs" 9:7 NIV

-

Debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and
wide-open, and that . . . may well include vehement, caustic,
and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government
and public officials.
--William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (1906—1997)
American jurist; associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court [1956—1990].
In "The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan" [1964].

A successful man is one who can lay a firm
foundation with the bricks that others throw
at him.
--attributed to David Brinkley, Sidney Greenberg, et al..

Personally I have no enthusiasm for organized
jeering sections but I hold that the spontaneous
right of raspberry should be denied to no one
in America.
--Heywood Broun (1888—1939)
American journalist & father of Heywood Hale Broun.
_It Seems to Me, 1925-1935_ [1935]

-

Praise in public.
--H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b. 1940)
American author.
_Life's Little Instruction Book_ [1991], Maxim #223


Criticize in private.
--H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b. 1940)
American author.
_Life's Little Instruction Book_ [1991], Maxim #224

-

Our moral criticism of past ages can easily be
mistaken. It transfers present-day desiderata
to the past. It views personalities according
to set principles and makes too little allowance
for the urgencies of the moment.
--Jacob Burckhardt (1818—1897)
Swiss historian of art and culture.
_Judgments on History_ [1865—1885]

The rule in carving holds good as to criticism:
never cut with a knife what you can cut with
a spoon.
--Charles Buxton (1823—1871)
English author.
_Notes of Thought_, # 351 [1873]

We are firm believers in the maxim that, for all
right judgment of any man or thing, it is useful,
nay, essential, to see his good qualities before
pronouncing on his bad.
--Thomas Carlyle (1795—1881)
Scottish historian and political philosopher.
"Goethe", in _Foreign Review_ [1828].

-

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and
complain — and most fools do.
--Dale Carnegie (1888—1955)
American writer and lecturer.
_How to Win Friends and Influence People_ [1936],
pt. 1 "Fundamental Techniques in Handling People"


Unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment.
It often means that you have aroused jealousy
and envy. Remember that no one ever kicks a
dead dog.
--Dale Carnegie (1888—1955)
American writer and lecturer.
_How to Stop Worrying and Start Living_ [1948]

-

There's not the least thing can be said or
done, but people will talk and find fault.
--Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616)
Spanish novelist.
_Don Quixote de la Mancha_, pt. 1, bk. 2, ch. 4 [1605]

No one appreciates the value of constructive
criticism more thoroughly than the one who's
giving it.
--Hal Chadwick
Attributed in "Reader's Digest" [1998].

-

Do not use a hatchet to remove
a fly from your friend's forehead.
--Chinese proverb


Deal with the faults of others
as gently as with your own.
--Chinese proverb

-

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough
to nourish a man's growth without destroying
his roots.
--Frank A. Clark
Quoted in "Administrative Management" [November 1978].

Experience informs us that the first
defence of weak minds is to recriminate.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772—1834)
English poet, critic, and philosopher.
_Biographia Literaria_ [1817]

The praise of the envious is far less creditable
than their censure; they praise only that which
they can surpass, but that which surpasses
them— they censure.
--C.C. Colton (1780—1832)
English clergyman and writer.
_Lacon: or, Many Things in Few Words_, DLXXIII [1824 ed.]

Men in authority will always think that criticism
of their policies is dangerous. They will always
equate their policies with patriotism, and find
critics subversive.
--Henry Steele Commager (1902—1998)
American historian.
_Freedom and Order_ [1966]

The gentleman calls attention to the good points
in others; he does not call attention to their defects.
The small man does just the reverse of this.
--Confucius (551—479 B.C.)
K'ung Ch'iu, Chinese philosopher.
_The Confucian Analects_ XII,16

To arrive at perfection, a man should have very sincere friends,
or inveterate enemies; because he would be made sensible of
his good or ill conduct either by the censures of the one, or
the admonitions of the others.
--Diogenes Laλrtius (fl. early 3rd century)
Greek author noted for his history of Greek philosophy.
Attributed in "The Athenaeum; or, Spirit of the English Magazines" [1 June 1827].

It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].
Speech [24 January 1860].

-

He wreathed the rod of criticism with roses.
--Isaac D'Israeli (1766—1848)
English author and the father of Benjamin Disraeli.
_Curiosities of Literature_, vol. 1
"Anecdotes of Authors Censured" [3 vols., 1824 ed.].


Of all unfortunate men one of the unhappiest is a middling
author endowed with too lively a sensibility for criticism.
--Isaac D'Israeli (1766—1848)
English author and the father of Benjamin Disraeli.
_Curiosities of Literature_, vol. 2
"Anecdotes of Authors Censured" [3 vols., 1824 ed.]


Candor is the brightest gem of criticism.
--Isaac D'Israeli (1766—1848)
English author and the father of Benjamin Disraeli.
Quoted in _The Knickerbocker,
or New-York Monthly Magazine_ [December 1833].

-

No, I make no pretension to patriotism. So long as my voice can
be heard on this or the other side of the Atlantic, I will hold up
America to the lightning scorn of moral indignation. In doing this,
I shall feel myself discharging the duty of a true patriot; for he
is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its
sins.
--Frederick Douglass [Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey]
(c.1818—1895) American abolitionist, reformer, and writer.
Speech at Market Hall, New York, N.Y. [22 October 1847].

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre
minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not
thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and
courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express
the results of his thoughts in clear form.
--Albert Einstein (1879—1955)
German-American physicist.
Letter to Morris Raphael Cohen [19 March 1940].

Opposition may become sweet to a man
when he has christened it persecution.
--George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans] (1819—1880)
English novelist.
_Scenes of Clerical Life_ [1857], "Janet's Repentance"

-

Let us never fall into the vulgar mistake
of dreaming that I am persecuted
whenever I am contradicted.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.
_Journal_ [8 November 1838]


You cannot see the mountain near.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.
"Shakespeare; Or, The Poet" (essay) [c. 1841—1843]

-

If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you,
instead of trying to defend yourself you should
say: 'He obviously does not know me very well,
since there are so many other faults he could
have mentioned.'
--Epictetus (55—135)
Greek philosopher.
_The Enchiridion_ [c. 135]

We should not be too hasty in bestowing either our praise or censure
on mankind, since we shall often find such a mixture of good and evil
in the same character, that it may require a very accurate judgment
and a very elaborate inquiry to determine on which side the balance
turns.
--Henry Fielding (1707—1754)
English novelist and dramatist.
Quoted in Mathew Carey (ed.)
_The School of Wisdom, or, American Monitor_ p.59 [2nd ed. 1803].

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those
who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't
mind.
--attributed to Theodor Seuss Geisel [Dr. Seuss] (1904—1991)
American writer and illustrator of children's books.

We can often better help another by fanning a
glimmer of goodness than by censuring his faults.
--attributed to Edmund Gibson (1669—1748)
English theologian and jurist.

Censure and criticism never hurt anybody. If false,
they can't hurt you unless you are wanting in manly
character; and if true, they show a man his weak
points and forewarn him against failure and trouble.
--William Gladstone (1809—1898)
British Liberal statesman, Prime Minister [1868—1874, 1880—1885, 1892—1894].
Quoted in George Dallas Lind
_Methods of Teaching in Country Schools_ [1880].

-

We are accustomed to see men deride what they do
not understand, and snarl at the good and beautiful
because it lies beyond their sympathies.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)
German poet, novelist, and playwright.
_Faust_ [1806]


It is easier to perceive error than to find truth,
for the former lies on the surface and is easily
seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where
few are willing to search for it.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)
German poet, novelist, and playwright.
Attributed in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 589 [1891].


Correction does much, but encouragement
does more. Encouragement after censure
is as the sun after a shower.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)
German poet, novelist, and playwright.
Attributed in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 142 [1908].

-

Blame where you must, be candid where you can,
And be each critic the Good-natured Man.
--Oliver Goldsmith (1728—1774)
Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and dramatist.
_The Good-Natur'd Man_ [1768]

Make it your habit not to be critical about small things.
--Edward Everett Hale (1822—1909)
American clergyman, writer, and chaplain of the Senate.
Quoted in Jessie K. Freeman & Sarah S. B. Yule
_Thoughts Selected From the Writings of Favorite Authors_ [1901].

I am not ... saying that Dr. Johnson was a man without originality,
compared with the ordinary run of men's minds, but he was not a
man of original thought or genius, in the sense in which Montaigne
or Lord Bacon was. He opened no new vein of precious ore, nor did
he light upon any single pebbles of uncommon size and unrivalled
lustre. We seldom meet with any thing to 'give us pause'; he does
not set us thinking for the first time.
--William Hazlitt (1778—1830)
English essayist.
_Lectures on the English Comic Writers_ [1819]

It is easier to discover a deficiency in individuals, in states,
and in Providence, than to see their real import and value.
--Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770—1831)
German philosopher.
_Philosophy of History_ [1832]

He only profits from praise who values criticism.
--attributed to Heinrich Heine (1797—1856)
German poet.

Once upon a time my political opponents honored me as
possessing the fabulous intellectual and economic power
by which I created a worldwide depression all by myself.
--Herbert Hoover (1874—1964)
American Republican statesman, President 1929—1933.
_Addresses Upon the American Road, 1955-1960_ [1961]

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—1776)
Scottish philosopher.
Attributed in James Comper Gray
_The Biblical Museum: Old Testament_, p. 245 [1876].

I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is
unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of
much praise.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
In a letter to Francis Hopkinson [13 March 1789].

-

While an author is yet living we estimate his powers by
his worst performance, and when he is dead we rate
them by his best.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
_The Plays of William Shakespeare_ (preface) [1765]


All censure of a man's self is oblique praise. It
is in order to show how much he can spare.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
In James Boswell _The Life of Samuel Johnson_ "25 April 1778" [1791].


All truth is valuable, and satirical criticism may
be considered as useful when it rectifies error
and improves judgment; he that refines the
public taste is a public benefactor.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
_Lives of the Poets_ [1779—1781] "Pope"


"Paradise Lost" is one of the books which the reader
admires and lays down, and forgets to take up again.
None ever wished it longer than it is.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
_Lives of the Poets_ [1779—1781] "Milton"


Criticism, as it was first introduced by Aristotle,
was meant as a standard of judging well.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
Attributed in Adam Woolιver (comp.)
_Treasury of Wisdom, Wit and Humor_ [3rd ed. 1878].

-

Everything that irritates us about others can
lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
--Carl Gustav Jung (1875—1961)
Swiss psychologist.
__Erinnerungen, Trδume, Gedanken_ (Memories, Dreams, Reflections) [1963]

Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of
my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all of the
criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would
be engaged in little else in the course of the day
and I would have no time for constructive work.
--Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929—1968)
American civil rights leader.
A Letter from Birmingham City Jail [16 April 1963].

-

Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which
reaches beyond their own understanding.
--Franηois de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680)
French classical author.
_Reflections; or, Sentences and Moral Maxims_ [1678]; maxim 375.


We rarely find that people have good
sense unless they agree with us.
--Franηois de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680)
French classical author.
_Reflections; or, Sentences and Moral Maxims_ [1678]; maxim 347.

-

Criticism is a life without risk.
--John Lahr (b. 1941)
American critic.
_Light Fantastic: Adventures in Theatre_ [1996]

We often stand in need of hearing
what we know full well.
--Walter Savage Landor (1775—1864)
English poet.
"Load Bacon and Richard Hooker"
_Imaginary Conversations_ [1824—1853]

Trust him little who praises all, him less
who censures all and him least who is
indifferent about all.
--Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741—1801)
Swiss writer, Protestant pastor, and founder of physiognomics.
Quoted in _The Pocket Magazine of Classics and Polite Literature_, vol. 2 [1818].

You do ill if you praise, but worse if you
censure, what you do not understand.
--Leonardo da Vinci (1452—1519)
Florentine painter, sculptor, musician, and scientist.
Attributed in Stephen Whitman _Children of Hope_ [1915]
published in "The Century" [February 1916].

The highest point to which a weak but
experienced mind can rise is detecting
the weakness of better men.
--Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742—1799)
German scientist and drama critic.
_Aphorisms_ [1765—1799]

-

If both factions, or neither, shall abuse you,
you will probably be about right. Beware of
being assailed by one and praised by the other.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865)
American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865].
Letter to Gen. John M. Schofield [27 May 1863].


If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the
attacks made on me, this shop might as well be
closed for other business. I do the very best I
know how, the very best I can, and I mean to
keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me
out all right, what is said against me won't amount
to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten
angels swearing I was right would make no
difference.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865)
American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865].
Quoted in Francis B. Carpenter
_The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House_ [1869].

-

Many critics are like woodpeckers who instead
of enjoying the fruit and shadow of a tree, hop
incessantly around the trunk pecking holes in
the bark to discover some little worm or other.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807—1882)
American poet.
Quoted in Robert Hendrickson
_The Literary Life and Other Curiosities_ [1981].

-

We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged
frankly, and because there are few who can endure
frank criticism without being stung by it, those
who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable
act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or
offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy
love for him.
--Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533—1592)
French moralist and essayist.
_Essais_ (Essays) bk. III, ch. 11 [pub. 1580—1588].


It is a dangerous and serious presumption, and
argues an absurd temerity, to condemn what
we do not understand.
--Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533—1592)
French moralist and essayist.
_Essais_ (Essays) [pub. 1580—1588].

-

-

Criticism gives us a wonderful chance to learn about ourselves.
When You are Criticized, Ask Yourself....

a.. What can I learn about myself?
b.. What information do I need to get from the remark, if any?
c.. Is there a message there that I need to hear despite the criticism?
d.. Why do I need to continue to hurt over small criticisms?
e.. What fear does the criticism bring up for me?
f.. What values of mine are being threatened?

--Lynne Namka, Ed. D.
Psychologist.
_Becoming More Thick Skinned: How To Deal With Criticism_ [1997]

-

We protest against unjust criticism,
but we accept unearned applause.
--Josι Narosky (b. 1930)
Argentine writer.
Quoted in Anthony St Peter _The Greatest Quotations of All-Time_ [2010].

One often contradicts an opinion when
what is uncongenial is really the tone
in which it was conveyed.
--Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844—1900)
German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture.
_Human, All Too Human_, aph. 303 [1878], as quoted in
Robert Andrews _The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations_ [1993].

Who can refute a sneer?
--William Paley (1743—1805)
English theologian and philosopher.
_Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy_, vol. ii. bk. v. ch. 9 [1785].

The trouble with most of us is that we
would rather be ruined by praise than
saved by criticism.
--Norman Vincent Peale (1898—1993)
American preacher and author.
Quoted in Alfred Armand Montapert _Distilled Wisdom_ [1964].

-

He that corrects out of Passion raises
Revenge sooner than Repentance.
--William Penn (1644—1718)
Quaker leader and advocate of religious freedom who oversaw
the founding of the American Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as
a refuge for Quakers and other religious minorities of Europe.
_Some Fruits of Solitude_ [1693]


They have a right to censure that have a
heart to help: the rest is cruelty, not justice.
--William Penn (1644—1718)
Quaker leader and advocate of religious freedom who oversaw
the founding of the American Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as
a refuge for Quakers and other religious minorities of Europe.
_Some Fruits of Solitude_ [1693; 1841 ed.]

-

To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.
--Plutarch (A.D. 46?—119?)
Greek philosopher and biographer.
Attributed in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 173 [1891].

-

Some judge of authors' names, not works, and then;
Nor praise nor blame the writings, but the men.
--Alexander Pope (1688—1744)
English poet.
_An Essay on Criticism_ [1711]


Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer;
Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,
Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike;
Alike reserv'd to blame or to commend,
A tim'rous foe, and a suspicious friend;
Dreading e'en fools, by flatterers besieged,
And so obliging that he ne'er oblig'd;
Like Cato, give his little Senate laws,
And sit attentive to his own applause.
--Alexander Pope (1688—1744)
English poet.
_An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot_ [1735]

-

What I have known with respect to myself, has tended
much to lessen both my admiration and my contempt
of others.
--Joseph Priestley (1733—1804)
English clergyman, political theorist, and scientist.
Quoted in Isaac Disraeli _Curiosities of Literature_, p. 422 [1859 ed.].

When we speak evil of others,
we generally condemn ourselves.
--Publilius Syrus (85—43 B.C.)
Latin writer of mimes who was originally a slave.
_Moral Sayings_, 1058, tr. Darius Lyman Jr., [1862]

Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave
others to talk of you as they please.
--Pythagoras (582—486 B.C.)
Ionian mathematician and philosopher.
Attributed in Tryon Edwards (using pseud. Everard
Berkeley) _The World's Laconics..._, p. 71 [1853].

'Do not spill thy soul' in running hither and yon
grieving over the misfortunes the mistakes and the
vices of others. The one person whom it is most
necessary in this world to reform is yourself
--Dorothy Quigley
_Success Is For You_, ch. XIV [1897]

If you give me six lines written by the hand of the
most honest of men, I will find something in them
which will hang him.
--Cardinal de Richelieu (1585—1642)
French Cardinal, Duke, and politician.
Attributed in Ιdouard Fournier
_L'Esprit dans l'Histoire: Recherches et Curiositιs sur les Mots Historiques_ [1857]

A man takes contradiction and advice much more easily
than people think, only he will not bear it when violently
given, even though it be well founded. Hearts are flowers;
they remain open to the softly falling dew, but shut up in
the violent downpour of rain.
--Jean Paul Richter (1763—1825)
German novelist.
Attributed in Henry Southgate (ed.)
_Many Thoughts of Many Minds_, p. 61 [1862, 3rd edition].

Don't be so ready to accept criticism and blame and don't
waste time feeling guilty. If you're guilty, say so, apologize,
then forget it. If you're not guilty, skip the apology and just
forget it.
--Robert J. Ringer
Author of self-help books.
_Looking Out for Number One_ [1977]

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points
out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of
deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the
man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred
by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again; who knows
the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends
himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in
the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at
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 or defeat.
--Theodore Roosevelt (1858—1919)
American Republican statesman and President [1901—1909].
"Citizenship in a Republic"
Address delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris [23 April 1910].

Men have commonly more pleasure in the criticism which
hurts than in that which is innocuous, and are more tolerant
of the severity which breaks hearts and ruins fortunes than
of that which falls impotently on the grave.
--John Ruskin (1819—1900)
English art and social critic.
_Modern Painters_ [1862, 1st Am. ed.]

It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect.
The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we
become towards the defects of others.
--Franηois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fιnelon (1651—1715)
French theologian and author.
"The Faults of Others"

Other men's sins are before our
eyes; our own behind our backs.
--Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.—65 A.D.)
Roman philosopher and poet.
"On Anger", II, 28

-

CASSIUS: You love me not.
BRUTUS: I do not like your faults.
CASSIUS: A friendly eye could never see such faults.
BRUTUS: A flatterer's would not, though they do appear
As huge as high Olympus.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_Julius Caesar_, IV, iii [1599]


But 'tis no matter: better a little chiding
than a great deal of heartbreak.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_The Merry Wives of Windsor_, V, iii [1602]


Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_Measure for Measure_, II, ii [1604]

-

The denunciation of the young is a necessary part
of the hygiene of older people, and greatly assists
the circulation of their blood.
--Logan Pearsall Smith (1865—1946)
American-born man of letters.
_Afterthoughts_ [1931] "Age and Death"

What Paul says about Peter tells us more
about Paul than it does about Peter.
--Benedict de Spinoza (1632—1677)
Dutch-Jewish philosopher, the foremost exponent
of 17th century Rationalism.
Quoted in Erich Fromm _Psychoanalysis and Religion_, 3 [1950].

If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with
him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be.
If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be
satisfied, for if he knew you better he might
change the accusation, and you would be no
gainer by the correction. If you have your moral
portrait painted and it is ugly, be satisfied, for
it only needs a few blacker touches, and it would
be still nearer the truth.
--Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834—1892)
English nonconformist preacher.
_Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit_ Vol. 34 [1888]
(see Epictetus above)

Sweep first before your own door, before you
sweep the doorsteps of your neighbors.
--Swedish Proverb

-

[The] malignant deity Criticism ... dwelt on the top of a
snowy mountain in Nova Zembla; there Momus found
her extended in her den, upon the spoils of numberless
volumes, half devoured. At her right hand sat Ignorance,
her father and husband, blind with age; at her left, Pride,
her mother, dressing her up in the scraps of paper herself
had torn. There was Opinion, her sister, light of foot,
hoodwinked and headstrong, yet giddy and perpetually
turning. About her played her children, Noise and
Impudence, Dullness and Vanity, Positiveness, Pedantry
and Ill Manners.
--Jonathan Swift (1667—1745)
Anglo-Irish poet and satirist.
_The Battle of the Books_ [1704]


There are but three ways for a man to revenge himself of the
censure of the world, — to despise it, to return the like, or to
endeavor to live so as to avoid it; the first of these is usually
pretended, the last is almost impossible, the universal practice
is for the second.
--Jonathan Swift (1667—1745)
Anglo-Irish poet and satirist.
_Thoughts on Various Subjects_ [October 1706]


Censure is the tax a man pays to the public for being eminent.
--Jonathan Swift (1667—1745)
Anglo-Irish poet and satirist.
_Thoughts on Various Subjects_ [October 1706]

-

If my critics saw me walking over the Thames
they would say it was because I couldn't swim.
--attributed to Margaret Thatcher (b. 1925)
British conservative stateswoman and Prime Minister [1979—1990].

Let not your peace rest in the utterances of men,
for whether they put a good or bad construction
on your conduct does not make you other than
you are.
--Thomas a' Kempis (1380—1471)
German ascetical writer.
_The Imitation of Christ_ [c.1420]

You do not get a man's most effective criticism
until you provoke him. Severe truth is expressed
with some bitterness.
--Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862)
American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher.
Entry dated 15 March 1854 in his _Journal_ [1906].

The Americans, in their intercourse with strangers,
appear impatient of the smallest censure and
insatiable of praise.
--Alexis de Tocqueville (1805—1859)
French historian and politician.
_Democracy in America_, vol. II, sec. III, ch. 16 [1840]

Other nations have been called thin-skinned,
but the citizens of the Union have, apparently,
no skins at all; they wince if a breeze blows
over them, unless it be tempered with adulation.
--Frances Trollope (1780—1863)
English author [mother of Anthony Trollope].
_Domestic Manners of the Americans_ [1832]

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
_Pudd'nhead Wilson_ [1894] ch. 15 epigraph: "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"

-

In John F Kennedy's Administration, the pundits
wrote an endless series of columns offering advice
as to how he could do a better job. That prompted
him to tell a favorite story.

"There was once a legendary baseball player," said
Kennedy. "He never failed to hit when at bat and
never dropped a ball. Grounders never dribbled
between his legs. He threw with unerring accuracy.
In the field and on the bases he had the speed and
grace of a leopard. He never tired or missed a
signal. In fact, he would have been one of the
all-time greats except for one thing — no one was
ever able to get him to put down his beer and hot
dog and come out of the press box to play.

--Morris King (Mo) Udall (1922—1998)
American politician and professional basketball player.
_Too Funny to be President_ [1988]

-

It is the very nature of violent censure to
give credibility to the opinions it attacks.
--Voltaire (Franηois Marie Arouet) (1694—1778)
French writer and philosopher.
Preface to the "Poem on the Lisbon Disaster" [1756] in
Joseph McCabe _Selected Works of Voltaire_ [1911].

A dogmatical spirit inclines a man to be censorious of
his neighbors. Every one of his opinions appears to him
written, as it were, with sunbeams, and he grows angry
that his neighbors do not see it in the same light. He is
tempted to disdain his correspondents as men of low
and dark understandings because they do not believe
what he does.
--Isaac Watts (1674—1748)
English hymn writer.
_The Improvement of the Mind_, ch. 1 [1741]

Neither human applause nor human censure is to be taken
as the test of truth. ... but either the one or the other should
set us upon careful self-examination.
--Richard Whately (1787—1863)
English philosopher and theologian.
"Discourse on the Treason of Judas Iscariot" in
_Essays On Some Of The Dangers To Christian Faith_ [1839]

I can imagine no greater disservice to the country than to
establish a system of censorship that would deny to the
people of a free republic like our own their indisputable
right to criticize their own public officials. While exercising
the great powers of the office I hold, I would regret in a
crisis like the one through which we are now passing to
lose the benefit of patriotic and intelligent criticism.
--Woodrow Wilson (1856—1924)
American Democratic statesman and President [1913—1921].
Letter to Arthur Brisbane [25 April 1917].

Remember that nobody will ever get ahead of you
as long as he is kicking you in the seat of the pants.
--attributed to Walter Winchell (1897—1972)
American journalist.

Horace appears in good humor while he censures, and therefore
his censure has the more weight as supposed to proceed from
judgment, not from passion.
--Edward Young (1683—1765)
English poet.
Attributed in Adam Woolιver (comp.)
_Treasury of Wisdom, Wit and Humor_, p. 47 [1878].

-

To belittle is to be little.
--anon

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
--anon.
In _Photo-era magazine: The American Journal of Photography_, vol. 23 [1909].

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 say anything about the rest of us.
--anon.
In _Notes and Queries_ [1850].

-----

animadversion [an-uh-mad-VUHR-zhuhn], noun:
1. Harsh criticism or disapproval.
2. Remarks by way of criticism and usually of
censure -- often used with 'on'.

castigate [KAS-tuh-gayt], transitive verb:
To punish severely; also, to chastise verbally;
to rebuke; to criticize severely.

decry (verb) [dee-'krI]
Denounce, publicly belittle, denigrate, or deprecate

deprecate [DEP-rih-kayt], transitive verb:
1. [Archaic] To pray against, as an evil;
to seek to avert by prayer.
2. To disapprove of strongly.
3. To belittle; to depreciate.

eschew (verb) [e-'shu]
Shun, avoid, shy away from.

excoriate [ek-SKOR-ee-ayt], transitive verb:
1. To express strong disapproval of; to denounce.
2. To tear or wear off the skin of.

flak (noun) ['flζk]
Antiaircraft artillery or fire;
(colloquial) heavy criticism.

impugn [im-PYOON], transitive verb:
To attack by words or arguments; to call in question; to make
insinuations against; to oppose or challenge as false; to gainsay.
Synonyms: challenge, deny, dispute, gainsay.
Ex.: "Even though it is nowhere alleged that disclosures of sinful
activity by priests impugn the integrity of the entire ministry,
that nevertheless is the passing legacy of the current scandals.
--William F. Buckley Jr.,
"The House of Disillusion,"
_National Review_ [14 May 2002]

objurgate (verb) ['ahb-jur-geyt]
To rebuke harshly.
syn: censure, chide, reproach, upbraid, rebuke, scold, berate.

opprobrium [uh-PRO-bree-uhm], noun:
1. Disgrace; infamy; reproach mingled with contempt.
2. A cause or object of reproach or disgrace.

pejorative (adj.)
Expressing criticism or disapproval (formal)

sacrosanct (adj.)
1. sacred: very holy and sacred.
2. inviolable: not to be criticized or tampered with.

upbraid [uhp-BRAYD] transitive verb:
To scold or criticize harshly.



CRITICS

.
.

see: "CRITICISM" (above)
see: "REVIEWS"
see: "ACTORS" for other related links


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, and dramatist.
Attributed in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 97 [1891].

Several tons of dynamite are set off in this
picture — none of it under the right people.
--James Agee (1909—1955)
American novelist, screenwriter, journalist, poet, and film critic.
Reviewing "Tycoon" [a 1947 film].

If Mr. Clemens cannot think of something better to
tell our pure-minded lads and lasses, he had best
stop writing for them.
--Louisa May Alcott (1832—1888)
American novelist; daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott.
Critique of _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ [1885].

^

Sir George Alexander (1858—1919),
British actor.

On the first night of that unfortunate play [Henry James's]
_Guy Domville_, produced by George Alexander, it was
soon evident from attitude of the gallery that the play was
not going to be a success, but the seal of failure was set on
it when Sir George uttered the line, "I am the last of the
Domvilles." Scarcely were the words out of his mouth than
a voice came from the gallery, "Well at any rate, that's a
comfort to know."

--_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_
edited by Clifton Fadiman and Andrι Bernard [2000 ed.]

^

When Mr. Wilbur calls his play 'Halfway
to Hell' he underestimates the distance.
--Brooks Atkinson (1894—1984)
American journalist and critic.
(The play opened at the Fulton Theatre in New York City
on 2 January 1934 and closed after seven performances.)

There is less in this than meets the eye.
--Tallulah Bankhead (1903—1968)
American actress.
Commenting on a play by Maurice Maeterlinck [3 January 1922].

It was one of those plays in which the actors,
unfortunately, enunciated very clearly.
--Robert Benchley (1889—1945)
American humorist and newspaper columnist.
Attributed in Auriel Douglas & Michael Strumpf (eds.)
_Webster's New World Best Book of Aphorisms_ [1989].

The covers of this book are too far apart.
--Ambrose Bierce (1842—1914)
American newspaperman, wit, and satirist.
A one-sentence review, in C.H. Grattan, _Bitter Bierce_ [1929].

There is probably no hell for authors in the next
world — they suffer so much from critics and
publishers in this.
--Christian Nestell Bovee (1820—1904)
American writer.
_Intuitions and Summaries of Thought_ [1862] "Authors"

Some critics are emotionally desiccated, personally
about as attractive as a year-old peach in a single
girl's refrigerator.
--Mel Brooks (b. 1926)
American actor, writer, and director.
_Playboy_ [December 1974]

Don't look now, Tallulah, but your show is slipping.
--attributed remark of Heywood Broun to Tallulah Bankhead
(Heywood Broun (1888—1939)
American journalist & father of Heywood Hale Broun.
Tallulah Bankhead (1903—1968) American actress.)

Is it in destroying and pulling down that skill is
displayed? The shallowest understanding, the
rudest hand, is more than equal to that task.
--Edmund Burke (1729—1797)
Irish-born Whig politician and man of letters.
Attributed in George Crabb _English Synonymes_, p. 200 [1826].

As soon
Seek roses in December — ice in June,
Hope, constancy in wind, or corn in chaff;
Believe a woman or an epitaph,
Or any other thing that's false, before
You trust in critics.
--Lord Byron [George Gordon Byron] (1788—1824)
English Romantic poet and satirist.
"English Bards and Scotch Reviewers" [1809]

In answer to queries, I'm pleased to report that historic
John's Grill on Ellis, reopened after a disastrous fire,
is unchanged from the original. The food is no worse
than it ever was.
--Herb Caen (1916—1997)
American newspaper columnist.
Column in "San Francisco Chronicle" [28 September 1983].

Reviewers are usually people who would have been
poets, historians, biographers, etc., if they could: they
have tried their talents at one or the other, and have
failed; therefore they turn critics.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772—1834)
English poet, critic, and philosopher.
_Seven Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton_ [1856 ed.]

Whom the gods wish to destroy
they first call promising.
--Cyril Connolly (1903—1974)
English writer.
_Enemies of Promise_ [1938]

Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
--Elvis Costello [Declan MacManus] (b. 1954)
English singer and songwriter.
Quoted in "Musician" [October 1983].

To be a critic, you have to have maybe three percent
education, five percent intelligence, two percent style,
and ninety percent gall and egomania in equal parts.
--attributed to Judith Crist (b. 1922)
American film critic.

Dear Blanchard, too much string - Yours, CD.
--Charles Dickens (1812—1870)
English novelist.
Letter to Laman Blanchard, who had sent him a copy of
some verses entitled "Orient Pearls at Random Strung".
Quoted in Frederick Locker Lampson _My Confidences_ [1896].

Many thanks; I shall lose no time in reading it.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and
Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].
Acknowledging receipt of an unsolicited manuscript,
in Wilfrid Meynell, _The Man Disraeli_ [1927].

Cecilia, as played by Knightley with stunning style, speaks rapidly in
that upper-class accent that sounds like performance art. When I hear
it, I despair that we Americans will ever approach such style with our
words, which march out like baked potatoes.
--Roger Ebert (b. 1942)
American film critic.
In an online review of the movie "Atonement" [2007].

Long experience has taught me that to
be criticized is not always to be wrong.
--Anthony Eden (1897—1977)
British Conservative statesman.
Speech at the Lord Mayor's Guildhall banquet during
the Suez crisis, in "Daily Herald" [10 November 1956].

Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability.
His specialty is rhythm songs which he renders
in an undistinguished whine; his phrasing, if
it can be called that, consists of the stereotyped
variations that go with a beginner's aria in a
bathtub. For the ear he is an unutterable bore.
--Jack Gould (1914—1993)
Television critic of the New York Times [1947—1972].
_New York Times_ [6 June 1956], "TV: New Phenomenon"

[Headline about rural filmgoers' rejection
of motion pictures about rural life:]
Sticks Nix Hick Pix.
--Abel Green (1900—1973)
American journalist.
"Variety" [17 July 1935]

^^

Ben Gross, the radio editor of the New York "Daily News"
once wrote that he didn't consider Frank Sinatra to be the
best singer in the world.

Fans of the singer weren't pleased. One wrote: "You should
burn in oil, pegs should be driven into your body and you
should be hung by your thumbs."

Said another:

"I'd love to take you to Africa, tie you to the ground, pour
honey on you and let the ants bite you to pieces."

^^

A "critic" is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels
qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic
in this; he is unbiased — he hates all creative people equally.
--Robert Heinlein (1907—1988)
American science-fiction writer.
_Time Enough for Love_ [1973]

Her singing was mutiny on the high Cs.
--attributed to Hedda Hopper [Elde Furry] (1890—1966)
American actress and gossip columnist.

[On Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address":]
The sequence of ideas is commonplace to the point
of banality, the ordinary coin of funereal oratory.
--James Hurt,
Literary critic.
Quoted in Garry Wills, "The Words That Remade America:
Lincoln at Gettysburg", _Atlantic_ [June 1992].

I had rather be hissed for a good
verse than applauded for a bad one.
--Victor Hugo (1802—1885)
French poet, dramatist, and novelist.
Quoted in Adθle Hugo
_Victor Hugo a Life Related by One Who Has Witnessed It_ [2 vols., 1863].

Parodies and caricatures are the
most penetrating of criticisms.
--Aldous Huxley (1894—1963)
English novelist (grandson of T.H. Huxley.)
_Point Counter Point_ [1928]

Why now, these fellows are only advertising my book;
it is surely better a man should be abused than forgotten.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
Quoted by James Boswell in _The Life of Samuel Johnson_ [1791].

-

Me no Leica.
--Walter Kerr (1913—1996)
American theater critic [husband of Jean Kerr].
On John Van Druten's "I Am a Camera" (play),
in _New York Herald Tribune_ [31 December 1951].


I will not say that "Portofino" is the worst musical
*ever* produced, because I've only been seeing
musicals since 1919.
--Walter Kerr (1913-1996)
American theater critic [husband of Jean Kerr].
Closing sentence of his review, in "New York Herald Tribune"
1956, quoted in Frank Rich, _The Drama Critic Who Made
the Pulse Race_, "New York Times" [20 October 1996].


He had delusions of adequacy.
--attributed to Walter Kerr (1913—1996)
American theater critic [husband of Jean Kerr].

-

[Of his publishers:]
Curse the blasted, jelly-boned swines, the
slimy, the belly-wriggling invertebrates, the
miserable sodding rotters, the flaming sods,
the snivelling, dribbling, dithering, palsied,
pulseless lot that make up England today.
They've got white of egg in their veins, and
their spunk is that watery it's a marvel they
can breed. ... God, how I hate them!
--D.H. (David Herbert) Lawrence (1885—1930)
English novelist and poet.
Letter to Edward Garnett [3 July 1912].

This book contains much that is good and new: pity
that the good is not new, and the new is not good.
--Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729—1781)
German dramatist.
Quoted in Samuel Arthur Bent
_Short Sayings of Great Men_, p. 260 [1882].

Thank you for your very amusing review. After
reading it, in fact, my brother George and I
laughed all the way to the bank.
--Liberace (1919—1987)
American showman.
Quoted in "TV Guide" [26 February--4 March 1964].

Nature fits all her children with something to do,
He who would write and can't write, can surely review.
--James Russell Lowell (1819—1891)
American poet, critic, essayist, and diplomat.
_A Fable for Critics_ [1848]

[Reviewing his autobiography:]
Not since "David Copperfield" have I read
such a stirring and inspiring life story.
--Groucho [Julius Henry] Marx (1895—1977)
American film comedian.

One should look long and carefully at oneself
before one considers judging others.
--Jean Moliθre [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622—1673)
French comic dramatist.
_Le Misanthrope_ [1666]

Anonymous: What do you think of critics?
O'Neill: I love every bone in their heads.
--Eugene O'Neill (1888—1953)
American playwright and winner of the
Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936.
In John Corry, "Brooks Atkinson Honored by O'Neill Committee,"
_New York Times_ [1 December 1980].

-

Miss Hepburn runs the whole gamut of emotions from A to B.
--Dorothy Parker (1893—1967)
American critic and humorist.
Referring to Katharine Hepburn's performance in the 1933 play "The Lake."
Quoted in Max Herzberg
_A Practical Anthology of Scathing Remarks and Acid Portraits_ [1941].


[In book review:]
This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force.
--Dorothy Parker (1893—1967)
American critic and humorist.
Quoted in _The Algonquin Wits_ (ed.) Robert E. Drennan [1968].

-

Saw 'Romeo & Juliet,' a play of itself the worst that
I ever heard in my life —'Midsummer Night's Dream,'
which I had never seen before, nor shall ever again,
for it is the most insipid, ridiculous play that ever
I saw in my life —'Twelfth Night," acted well, though
it be but a silly play.
--Samuel Pepys (1633—1703)
English diarist and naval administrator.
_Diary_ [29 September 1662]

You can spot a bad critic when he starts
by discussing the poet and not the poem.
--Ezra Pound (1885—1972)
American expatriate poet and critic.
Quoted in Naomi Rachel, letter to "New Yorker" [25 December 1995].

Court not the critic's smile nor dread his frown.
--Sir Walter Scott (1771—1832)
Scottish novelist and poet.
_ Harold the Dauntless_ [1817]

It is greatly to Mrs. Patrick Campbell's credit that,
bad as the play was, her acting was worse. It was
a masterpiece of failure.
--George Bernard Shaw (1856—1950)
Irish dramatist and critic.
Review of "Fedora" [25 May 1895].

[Critique of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony:]
An orgy of vulgar noise.
--Louis Spohr (1784—1859)
German composer, violinist, and conductor.

So, naturalists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller fleas to bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum.
Thus every poet, in his kind,
Is bit by him that comes behind.
--Jonathan Swift (1667—1745)
Anglo-Irish poet and satirist.
Referring to literary critics in
"On Poetry, a Rhapsody" [1733].

Handel is only fourth rate. He is not even interesting.
--Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840—1893)
Russian composer.
In Modeste Il'ich Chaikovskii
_The Life & Letters Of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky_ [1906].

It had only one fault. It was kind of lousy.
--James Thurber (1894—1961)
American humorist and cartoonist.
When asked his opinion of a play.
Quoted in P. G. Wodehouse "Performing Flea" [25 September 1950].

[Attributed 1901 remark to Anton Chekhov after seeing Uncle Vanya:]
You know I can't stand Shakespeare's
plays, but yours are even worse.
--Leo Tolstoy (1828—1910)
Russian novelist.

-

I've just read your lousy review of [of a concert by Truman's daughter
Margaret] I've come to the conclusion that you are an "eight ulcer man
on four ulcer pay."

It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could
have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the
back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're
off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.

Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new
nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!

Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope
you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on
your ancestry.

H.S.T.

--Harry S. Truman (1884—1972)
American Democratic statesman, President of the U.S. [1945—1953].
Letter to Paul Hume [6 December 1950].

-

-

[Mark Twain wrote of Jane Austen:]
Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice,' I want to
dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own
shin-bone.
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
Letter to Joseph Twichell [13 September 1898].


To me his [Edgar Allan Poe's] prose is unreadable—
like Jane Austin's. No, there is a difference. I could
read his prose on salary, but not Jane's.

Jane is entirely impossible. It seems a great pity
that they allowed her to die a natural death.

--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
Letter to William Dean Howells [18 January 1909].

-

Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as
hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea.
--John Updike (1932—2009)
American novelist and short-story writer.
_Hugging the Shore_, foreward [1984]

[Of his play, "Blow Your Own Trumpet":]
The second play was well and truly lacerated by the
press— not by the public. They weren't there.
--Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov [1921—2004]
British entertainer, writer, and humanitarian.
Quoted in Geoffrey Willans _Peter Ustinov_ [1957].

Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for
a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person
who has put on full armor and attacked a hot
fudge sundae.
--Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922—2007)
American novelist and short-story writer.
Quoted in Bill Henderson _Rotten Reviews: A Literary Companion_ [1987].

[Referring to Alexander Woollcott:]
He always praises the first production of each
season, being reluctant to stone the first cast.
--Walter Winchell (1897—1972)
American journalist.
Quoted in Samuel Hopkins Adams
_A. Woollcott, His Life and His World_ [1945].

Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men
who have minded beyond reason the opinions
of others.
--Virginia Woolf (1882—1941)
English novelist.
_A Room of One's Own_ [1929]

You who scribble, yet hate all who write. . .
And with faint praise one another damn.
--William Wycherley (c.1640—1716)
English dramatist.
_The Plain Dealer_ [1677]

-

In the 1930s, while serving as artistic director of London's Covent
Garden Opera, Beecham was taking the orchestra through a dress
rehearsal for a full-scale production of "Aida." Originally composed
by Verdi for the opening of Cairo's new opera house in 1871, "Aida"
is one of the most lavish operas of all time, calling for horses and,
if they are available, even elephants. When a horse was brought
on stage for the rehearsal, it immediately began to do what stage
managers and directors fear an animal will do in such a situation.
Thomas, who was noted as much for his great wit as his musical
abilities, found the whole episode quite amusing. He stopped the
orchestra and observed to the players:

"You see, gentleman, not only a great performer, but a critic, too!"

--Dr. Mardy's Quotes of the Week [April 2005]

-

-----

pabulum (noun)
1. Plant or animal food.
2. Unsatisfying intellectual material: material whose intellectual
content is thin, trite, bland, or generally unsatisfying (literary).


end page



| CALAMITIES - CALM | CALUMNY - CANADA | CANCER - CAPITAL PUNISHMENT | CAPITALISM | CAREFREE - CARPE DIEM | CARTER (JIMMY) - CATS & DOGS | CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - CENSORSHIP | CERTAINTY - CHANGE | CHANGING (ONE'S MIND) & CHANGING TIMES | CHARACTER | CHARACTER ASSASINATION - CHEERFULNESS | CHEER UP! - CHILDHOOD | CHILDREN | CHILDREN'S RHYME | CHINA | CHOCOLATE - CHRISTIANITY | CHRISTMAS | CHURCH - CIGARS | CIRCUMSTANCES & CITIES | CIVILITY - CIVIL RIGHTS | CLARITY - CLEVER | CLOTHES - COFFEE | COLD - COLORS | COMEDY | COMFORT - COMMON SENSE | COMMUNICATION | COMMUNISM | COMPANIONSHIP - COMPASSION | COMPETITION - COMPLIMENTS | COMPOSERS - CONDUCTORS | CONFESSION - CONQUEST | CONSCIENCE - CONTENTED | CONTEXT - CONVERSATION | CONVICTION & COOKING | COOLIDGE - CORPORATIONS | CORRUPTION - COURAGE | COURT - COWS | CREATIVITY - CRIME | CRIME & PUNISHMENT - CROOKS | CRITICISM & CRITICS | CROWD (THE) - CUBA | CULTURE - CYNICS |
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| Return Home | The Credits | The Cast | Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 | The Reviews |
 
     



Copyright © 2012, someworthwhilequotes.com. All rights reserved.