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CRITICISM --- CRITICS

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CRITICISM

see: "ABUSE"
see: "BLAME"
see: "CALUMNY"
see: "CRITIQUE"
see: "FAULT(S)"
see: "FINDING FAULT"
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].

Sympathy is the first condition of criticism; reason
and justice presuppose, at their origin, emotion.
--Henri Frιdιrick Amiel (1821—1881)
Swiss critic.

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.
In Bob Kelly _Worth Repeating: More Than
5,000 Classic and Contemporary Quotes_, P. 212 [2003].

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.

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

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.

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


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

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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 role 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.

-

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.

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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_ [1605—1615]

No one appreciates the value of constructive
criticism more thoroughly than the one who's
giving it.
--Hal Chadwick

-

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

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Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to
nourish a man's growth without destroying his
roots.
--Frank A. Clark

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]

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.

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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].


Of all unfortunate men one of the unhappiest is a middling
author endowed with too lively a sensibility for criticism.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].


Candor is the brightest gem of criticism.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880].


He wreathed the rod of criticism with roses.
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804—1881)
British Tory statesman, novelist, and Prime Minister [1868, 1874—1880]..

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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 encountered
violent opposition from mediocre minds.
--Albert Einstein (1879—1955)
German-American physicist.

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"

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Do not spill thy soul in running hither and
yon, grieving over the mistakes and the
vices of others. The one person whom it
is most necessary to reform is yourself.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.


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]

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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.

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].

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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.


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.


Correction does much, but encouragement does more.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)
German poet, novelist, and playwright.
In Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 142 [1908].

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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]

Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.
--Baltasar Graciαn (1601—1658)
Spanish Jesuit philosopher.

Make it your habit not to be critical about small things.
--Edward Everett Hale (1822—1909)
American clergyman, writer, and chaplain of the Senate.

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]

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.

To avoid criticism do nothing,
say nothing, be nothing.
--Elbert Hubbard (1859—1915)
American editor, publisher, and author who died in the sinking of the "Lusitania".

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.

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].

See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little.
--Pope John XXIII (1881—1963)
261st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

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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.


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.


"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 English Poets_ "Milton" [1781]


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].

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Everything that irritates us about others can
lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
--Carl Gustav Jung (1875—1961)
Swiss psychologist.
In Ashton Applewhite, Tripp Evans, & Andrew Frothingham
_And I Quote: The Definitive Collection..._, p. 165 [1992].

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].

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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.

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Criticism is a life without risk.
--John Lahr (1941- )
American critic.

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_

You do ill to praise, but worse to censure,
what you do not understand.
--Leonardo da Vinci (1452—1519)
Florentine painter, sculptor, musician, and scientist.

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]

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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].


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].


He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865)
American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865].

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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]

A good critic is the sorcerer that makes some hidden
spring gush forth unexpectedly under our feet.
--Franηois Mauriac (1885—1970)
French poet, novelist, and dramatist.

-

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.
_Essays,_ bk. III, ch. 11 [1595]


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) {94 chapters written 1571—1580 & published 1580;
the last 13 chapters were written 1585—1587 & published 1588 }.

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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]

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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.

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.
In "Pearls of Wisdom," ed. J. Agel and W. Glanze [1987].

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They have a Right to censure that have a
Heart to help: The rest 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.


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_, 290 [1693]

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To find fault is easy; to do better
may be difficult.
--Plutarch (A.D. 46?—119?)
Greek philosopher and biographer.

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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]


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]

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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]

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.

If you give me six lines written by the most honest
man, I will find something in them to hang him.
--Cardinal de Richelieu (1585—1642)
French Cardinal, Duke, and politician.

We take contradiction more easily than is
supposed, if not violently given, even though
it is well founded. Hearts are like flowers;
they remain open to the softly falling dew,
but shut up in a violent downpour of rain.
--Jean Paul Richter (1763—1825)
German novelist.

Don't be so ready to accept criticism and blame.
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, c. 1970s
Author of self-help books

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].

Answer them [critics] with silence and
indifference. It works better, I assure
you, than anger and argument. . . .
--Gioacchino Rossini (1792—1868)
Italian composer.

If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
--Donald Rumsfeld (1932— )
American Secretary of Defense [1975—1977] & [2001—2006].

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 are behind our backs.
--Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.— 65 A.D.)
Roman philosopher and poet.

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


But 'tis no matter: better a little chiding
than a great deal of heartbreak.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.


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_ [1599]

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

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]

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

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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.


The malignant deity Criticism dwelt on the top of a snowy
mountain in Nova Zembla; Momus found her extended in
her den upon the spoils of numberless volumes half
devoured. At her right 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.


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.
--Margaret Thatcher (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.

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 March 15, 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_ [1835—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.

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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].

The way we respond to criticism pretty much
depends on the way we respond to praise. If
praise humbles us, then criticism will build
us up. But if praise inflates us, then criticism
will crush us; and both responses lead to defeat.
--Warren W. Wiersbe
Bible conference teacher and author.

Remember that nobody will ever get ahead
of you as long as he is kicking you in the
seat of the pants.
--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.

-

To belittle is to be little.
--anon

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.
Ex.: For many months, he had excoriated historians who
had "bullied their way into power positions in academia"
in order to indoctrinate students with the message that
"our country is inherently evil."
--Gary B. Nash,
_History on Trial_

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: "CRITIQUE"
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.

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.
On _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 Bob Phillips _Phillips' Treasury of Humorous Quotations_ [2004].

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].

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

Don't look now, Tallulah, but your show is slipping.
--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.

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.

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.
_Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton_, p. 36

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] (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.
--Judith Crist (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].

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].

Don't pay any attention to the
critics— don't even ignore them!
--Samuel Goldwyn [Schmuel Gelbfisz] (1882—1974)
American film producer.

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.
--Hedda Hopper [Elde Furry] (1890—1966)
American actress and gossip columnist.

The sequence of ideas is commonplace to the point of banality,
the ordinary coin of funereal oratory.
--James Hurt,
literary critic. On Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address"
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.

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.

-

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.
--Walter Kerr (1913—1996)
American theater critic [husband of Jean Kerr].

-

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.
On critics, in a letter to Edward Garnett.

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.

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]

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

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].

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.
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.

A drama critic is a man who
leaves no turn unstoned.
--George Bernard Shaw (1856—1950)
Irish comic dramatist, literary critic, Socialist
propagandist, and winner of the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1925.

An orgy of vulgar noise.
--composer Louis Spohr on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony [1823].

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.

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].

-

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].

-

-

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].


[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].

-

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]

My second play, _Blow Your Own Trumpet_, was
well and truly lacerated by the press — but not
the public. They weren't there.
--Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov [1921—2004]
British entertainer, writer, and humanitarian.

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.

[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]

-

from DR. MARDY'S QUOTES OF THE WEEK - April 24 - 30, 2005:
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!"

-

-

This review, by Lisa Coffey, appeared in the
"Desert Aria" (newspaper) in 1983:

ZUCKERMAN DAZZLES LAS VEGANS

Wednesday, January 18, Pinchas Zuckerman conducted and perjformed [sic] with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in an all Beetthoven [sic] concert at Ham Hall. Those Las Vegans lucky enough to attend were treated to an evening of performance of a caliber shamefully rare in a city of a half million people.

The first half of the program, consisting of the Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus and the Symphony No. 4 in B-flat, Op. 60, was somewhat disappointing in that Zuckerman conducted the orchestra with his back to the audience. While one cannot fault him entirely for assuming the traditional posture of the vast majority of great maestros, it must be said that the choice of his stance in combination with his having also elected to wear the tradtional "tails" all but obscured whatever clarity of physique one might have hoped to savor, even from the best seats.

Even so, true genius shines forth. The broad expense [sic] of his shoulders, the abundant wavy dark hair, the well proportioned legs planted oh-so-firmly on the podium were sufficient food for the culture-starved crowd to feast upon throughout even the longest of movements. Perhaps it might even be said that the program order reflected a certain deftness of planning, for it certainly left the audience at intermission clambering [sic] to return to their seats in anticipation of the climactic second half which promised the chance to observe Mr. Zuckerman from the front for the duration of a while violin concerto. [sic]

What followed was pure magic, as Zuckerman proved that the combination of virtuosity, artistry and a great body can make even the Concerto in D for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61 seem too short. He inspired his audience where a performer of lesser attributes might have left them bored to death. But who among them could for an instant let her eyes stray from the Maestro as he cradled his violin so gently, yet firmly, with the touch of well proportioned hands made strong and supple by years of torturous practice? Whose eyes could have been other than riveted to the spectacle of the grace and power of the bow arm, the fire in his dark eyes, the tension in his taut thighs as he made reday [sic] to launch into some passionate passage with the energy of an athlete. [sic] Who could but succumb to the tenderness of his smile as he lost himself in the ecstacy of each undulating sweet melodic phrase that surged and swelled from the instrument at his command? It is only a wonder that the audience managed to suppress both thunderous applause and shrieks of pleasure until the end. We can only hope that it not be an eternity before he again graces our stage with the captivating magic of his talents.

Mr. Zuckerman is a native of Israel, Middle East. He has recorded quite a number of musical pieces onto records which are considered quite good by those who listen to them. He is married to a woman of questionalble musical ability and character.

-

-----

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



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