Quotes About Criticism

In 1895 Lady Londonberry commented acidly on a bridegroom who had 'married the 10,000 a year as well as the lady.

Taken to extremes, scapegoating feeds the political pathology called fascism, a movement ideology centered on a "radical and authoritarian nationalism" that actively suppresses "openness and opposition" to the movement and the nation-state it hopes to commandeer.15 When this diseased brand of nationalism rushes in to fill our inner emptiness, its mildest manifestation is the belief that nation's critics are unpatriotic, even traitorous. At

Scandaliser est un droit. Être scandalisé est un plaisir.

Consider the credibility of your source before you take his or her criticism seriously. And remember, there are always a few sharks cruising around, looking for raw meat. Don't feed them, or they're sure to come back" (p. 224).

That first voice, the voice of home, is the one the writer must protect from the contempt or disdain or disregard of any critic, no matter how famous or capable that critic may be. It is not all that a mature writer needs; surely every writer needs the tools of literary criticism and as much knowledge of various traditions as possible—but a profound acceptance of and trust in one's own voice is the first and most important thing the writer needs.

We are hardwired to remember negative events over positive ones, so we ruminate on our mistakes and the slights of others. Our ability to use language means that we can spend hours mentally criticizing what we did in the past or worrying about what we'll do in the future. No wonder we love dogs, who don't need meditation retreats to get over the shame of getting into the garbage last Thursday.

Partisans will try to appeal to the notion that political arguments are really about which group is better in order to dismiss criticism of their group. We might think that we can refute criticism by pointing out that 'the other party does the same thing too.' But whether the other party does it too is relevant only if we're arguing about which party is better, not which policies are better.

I believe it is the inability of beginning writers to achieve at least a certain degree of detachment from their writing that defeats so many of them before they even get started. Without this distancing, any criticism of your writing will seem devastating, even incapacitating, whereas with the proper amount of detachment it will seem merely cruel and unusual punishment.

Learn to take criticism. Your first draft won't be perfect, and it's damaging to the book to think that it is. Every great book you've ever read has been rewritten a dozen times. This is the hardest think to learn (trust me), but very, very important.

Ambrose, your presence is the horseshit frosting on the horseshit cake that is the admissions interview process.

We talked about who we liked in the University, but more time was spent mulling over who we didn't like, and why, and what we would do about it given the chance. Such is human nature.

Der Kontrabaß ist das scheußlichste, plumpeste, uneleganteste Instrument, das je erfunden wurde. Ein Waldschrat von Instrument.

I've lived long enough - Stonehenge and me - that I've learned even when folks do spiteful things, they have a reason. Often when I know the reason, their actions make sense. It doesn't make them right, but it does make sense; and when I understand, I tend to be less critical and more compassionate.

If, instead of seeking approval, you ask, "What's wrong with it? How can I make it better?", you are more likely to get a truthful, critical answer

If you show somebody a piece of your work and you ask them 'What do you think?', they will probably say it's okay because they don't want to offend you. Next time, instead of asking if it's right, ask them what's wrong. They may not say what you want to hear, but the chances are they will give you a truthful criticism.

When I was ten, I spent a long night burrowed under my comforter, cuddled up with Funshine Bear, who, filled with a foamy enigmatic sense of language and a Bloomian dogmatism, was the most literary of the Care Bears and my harshest critic.

The literary critic Helen Vendler writes that "treating fictions as moral pep-pills or moral emetics is repugnant to anyone who realizes the complex psychological and moral motives of a work of art.

Self-righteous people tend to be critical, dismissive, and impatient with others.

When modern critics think they are demystifying literature, they are in fact being demystified by it. But since this necessarily occurs in the form of a crisis, they are blind to what takes place within themselves. What they call anthropology, linguistics, psychoanalysis, is nothing but literature reappearing like the hydra's head in the very spot where it had been suppressed. The human mind will go through amazing feats to avoid facing 'the nothingness of human matters'.

If you disagree with something, it's easier to say 'you suck' than to figure out and explain exactly what you disagree with. You're also safe that way from refutation. In this respect trolling is a lot like graffiti. Graffiti happens at the intersection of ambition and incompetence: people want to make their mark on the world, but have no other way to do it than literally making a mark on the world.

This music, transmitted by loud-speakers, made a masterpiece appear like an amateurish attempt at composition by nimcompoop

Cuando uno les demuestra a los demás que están equivocados, los demás lo odian a uno por ello.

Writing a journal article combines all the elements that deter motivation: The probability of success is low; the likelihood of criticism and rejection is high; and the outcome, even if successful, isn't always rewarding.

The criticism of religion disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun. Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself.