Quotes by Critic | Beyond Motive 12/29

top of page

Quotes by Critic

"They know they got the TV ad, they know they got the name recognition, they know that they can do a tie in with McDonald's or some fast food outlet and the money is just gonna flow in."

"They know they got the TV ad, they know they got the name recognition, they know that they can do a tie in with McDonald's or some fast food outlet and the money is just gonna flow in."

Gene Siskel, American Critic

Food, Money, Name

3

"Shakespeare wrote great plays that we're still watching all these years later. Charlie Chaplin made great comedies and they are still as funny today as they ever were."

"Shakespeare wrote great plays that we're still watching all these years later. Charlie Chaplin made great comedies and they are still as funny today as they ever were."

Leonard Maltin, American Critic

Fun, Funny, Shakespeare, Today, Years

3

"Quality survives."

"Quality survives."

Leonard Maltin, American Critic

3

"But among them now were a large number of Communists in positions of great power within the new union movement, some of them actually moving close to the center of power. This was the crack in the wall through which they entered. Their power was to grow and prosper."

"But among them now were a large number of Communists in positions of great power within the new union movement, some of them actually moving close to the center of power. This was the crack in the wall through which they entered. Their power was to grow and prosper."

John T. Flynn, American Critic

3

"All sensitive people agree that there is a peculiar emotion provoked by works of art."

"All sensitive people agree that there is a peculiar emotion provoked by works of art."

Clive Bell, English Critic

Art, People, Emotion

3

"Getting to the pint where the other is not the enemy is a big leap."

"Getting to the pint where the other is not the enemy is a big leap."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

3

"I'm immensely grateful for the precious gift my mother has given me. She is my hero today and every day."

"I'm immensely grateful for the precious gift my mother has given me. She is my hero today and every day."

Steven Cojocaru, Canadian Critic

Family, Mother, Day, Today

3

"If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so."

"If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so."

Eric Bentley, English Critic

3

"In fact I think now we've reached a point now, where the powers that be really have sort of vested interest in all of us being stoned out as much as possible all the time so we don't know what's going on, and we don't care."

"In fact I think now we've reached a point now, where the powers that be really have sort of vested interest in all of us being stoned out as much as possible all the time so we don't know what's going on, and we don't care."

Lester Bangs, American Critic

Time, Being, Care, Fact

3

"Ours is the age of substitutes: instead of language, we have jargon: instead of principles, slogans: and, instead of genuine ideas, bright ideas."

"Ours is the age of substitutes: instead of language, we have jargon: instead of principles, slogans: and, instead of genuine ideas, bright ideas."

Eric Bentley, English Critic

Age, Ideas, Language, Principles

3

"All good criticism should be judged the way art is. You shouldn't read it the way you read history or science."

"All good criticism should be judged the way art is. You shouldn't read it the way you read history or science."

Leslie Fiedler, American Critic

Art, History, Science, Criticism

3

"I also wanted to do something that I hadn't really seen in almost any black novels, which was a complex love story in which both people were extremely intelligent and talented and understood a lot of things and were still at odds getting it together."

"I also wanted to do something that I hadn't really seen in almost any black novels, which was a complex love story in which both people were extremely intelligent and talented and understood a lot of things and were still at odds getting it together."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

3

"I am going to get political on you. Because I am the most shallow person in the world, my mission is to see men's formal wear change a little bit. It is too rigid! Everybody looks like a penguin!"

"I am going to get political on you. Because I am the most shallow person in the world, my mission is to see men's formal wear change a little bit. It is too rigid! Everybody looks like a penguin!"

Steven Cojocaru, Canadian Critic

Change, Men, Mission, World

3

"It is a vulgar error that love, a love, to woman is her whole existence; she is born for Truth and Love in their universal energy."

"It is a vulgar error that love, a love, to woman is her whole existence; she is born for Truth and Love in their universal energy."

Margaret Fuller, American Critic

Love, Truth, Energy, Error

3

"A person who has sympathy for mankind in the lump, faith in its future progress, and desire to serve the great cause of this progress, should be called not a humanist, but a humanitarian, and his creed may be designated as humanitarianism."

"A person who has sympathy for mankind in the lump, faith in its future progress, and desire to serve the great cause of this progress, should be called not a humanist, but a humanitarian, and his creed may be designated as humanitarianism."

Irving Babbitt, American Critic

Faith, Sympathy, Progress, Cause

3

"And I think both the left and the right should celebrate people who have different opinions, and disagree with them, and argue with them, and differ with them, but don't just try to shut them up."

"And I think both the left and the right should celebrate people who have different opinions, and disagree with them, and argue with them, and differ with them, but don't just try to shut them up."

Roger Ebert, American Critic

People, Opinions, Right

3

"So the competition isn't once you got the license, running the station; it's getting the license."

"So the competition isn't once you got the license, running the station; it's getting the license."

Robert McChesney, American Critic

Competition, Running

3

"Citizen Kane is perhaps the one American talking picture that seems as fresh now as the day it opened. It may seem even fresher."

"Citizen Kane is perhaps the one American talking picture that seems as fresh now as the day it opened. It may seem even fresher."

Pauline Kael, American Critic

Movies, Day, May, Now

3

"If I could only remember that the days were, not bricks to be laid row on row, to be built into a solid house, where one might dwell in safety and peace, but only food for the fires of the heart."

"If I could only remember that the days were, not bricks to be laid row on row, to be built into a solid house, where one might dwell in safety and peace, but only food for the fires of the heart."

Edmund Wilson, American Critic

Food, Peace, Heart, Safety

3

"Don't let young people tell you their aspirations; when they drop them they will drop you."

"Don't let young people tell you their aspirations; when they drop them they will drop you."

Logan Pearsall Smith, American Critic

People, Aspirations, Will

3

"You'd never know that listening to people in the UN but tribalism is the father of racism."

"You'd never know that listening to people in the UN but tribalism is the father of racism."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Family, Father, People, Listening, Racism

3

"A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most perfect prayer."

"A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most perfect prayer."

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German Critic

Thought, Heaven, Prayer

3

"Art can only be truly art by presenting an adequate outward symbol of some fact in the interior life."

"Art can only be truly art by presenting an adequate outward symbol of some fact in the interior life."

Margaret Fuller, American Critic

Life, Art, Fact, Symbol

3

"Limitation of armaments in itself is economically and financially important quite apart from security."

"Limitation of armaments in itself is economically and financially important quite apart from security."

Ludwig Quidde, German Critic

3

"No woman needs intercourse; few women escape it."

"No woman needs intercourse; few women escape it."

Andrea Dworkin, American Critic

Woman, Women, Needs

3

"I admired in others the strength that I lacked myself."

"I admired in others the strength that I lacked myself."

Georg Brandes, Danish Critic

3

"If liberals want to send tens of millions of dollars down the drain, I have no problem with that."

"If liberals want to send tens of millions of dollars down the drain, I have no problem with that."

Paul Weyrich, American Critic

Politics, Liberals, Want

3

"But Fascism cannot continue in a modified form."

"But Fascism cannot continue in a modified form."

John T. Flynn, American Critic

Politics, Fascism

3

"Childbearing is glorified in part because women die from it."

"Childbearing is glorified in part because women die from it."

Andrea Dworkin, American Critic

3

"Riches are chiefly good because they give us time."

"Riches are chiefly good because they give us time."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

3

"Polar Express is not an attempt to do animation. It is a technology-based film."

"Polar Express is not an attempt to do animation. It is a technology-based film."

Leonard Maltin, American Critic

Technology, Animation, Film

3

"One of the misfortunes of our time is that in getting rid of false shame we have killed off so much real shame as well."

"One of the misfortunes of our time is that in getting rid of false shame we have killed off so much real shame as well."

Louis Kronenberger, American Critic

3

"A book might be written on the injustice of the just."

"A book might be written on the injustice of the just."

Pauline Kael, American Critic

Justice, Injustice

3

"Half the world is composed of idiots, the other half of people clever enough to take indecent advantage of them."

"Half the world is composed of idiots, the other half of people clever enough to take indecent advantage of them."

Walter Kerr, American Critic

People, Idiots, World

3

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."

Margaret Fuller, American Critic

Knowledge, Light

3

"Now the writing in the head, I definitely do every day, thinking about how I want to phrase something or how I'd like to rephrase something I've already written."

"Now the writing in the head, I definitely do every day, thinking about how I want to phrase something or how I'd like to rephrase something I've already written."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Process, Day, Now, Thinking, Want

3

"All Hollywood corrupts; and absolute Hollywood corrupts absolutely."

"All Hollywood corrupts; and absolute Hollywood corrupts absolutely."

Edmund Wilson, American Critic

3

"Do not mistake a crowd of big wage-earners for the leisure class."

"Do not mistake a crowd of big wage-earners for the leisure class."

Clive Bell, English Critic

Mistake, Class, Leisure, Wage

3

"When distrust exists between governments, when there is a danger of war, they will not be willing to disarm even when logic indicates that disarmament would not affect military security at all."

"When distrust exists between governments, when there is a danger of war, they will not be willing to disarm even when logic indicates that disarmament would not affect military security at all."

Ludwig Quidde, German Critic

War, Danger, Distrust, Logic

3

"The nature of the task needs to be renewed so people just don't feel that all the hard work is in the same groove all the time, under the same circumstances and in the same environment."

"The nature of the task needs to be renewed so people just don't feel that all the hard work is in the same groove all the time, under the same circumstances and in the same environment."

Timothy White, American Critic

Nature, Work, Time, People

3

"The art of the critic in a nutshell: to coin slogans without betraying ideas. The slogans of an inadequate criticism peddle ideas to fashion."

"The art of the critic in a nutshell: to coin slogans without betraying ideas. The slogans of an inadequate criticism peddle ideas to fashion."

Walter Benjamin, German Critic

Art, Ideas, Criticism, Fashion

3

"Inasmuch as society cannot go on without discipline of some kind, men were constrained, in the absence of any other form of discipline, to turn to discipline of the military type."

"Inasmuch as society cannot go on without discipline of some kind, men were constrained, in the absence of any other form of discipline, to turn to discipline of the military type."

Irving Babbitt, American Critic

Man, Men, Society, Discipline, Absence

3

"Politics aside, it will be hard for any new liberal radio network to outdo the professionalism of NPR."

"Politics aside, it will be hard for any new liberal radio network to outdo the professionalism of NPR."

Paul Weyrich, American Critic

Politics, Liberal, Network, Will

3

"The critic is a man who prefers the indolence of opinion to the trials of action."

"The critic is a man who prefers the indolence of opinion to the trials of action."

John Mason Brown, American Critic

Action, Indolence, Man, Opinion

3

"There is that smaller world which is the stage, and that larger stage which is the world."

"There is that smaller world which is the stage, and that larger stage which is the world."

Isaac Goldberg, American Critic

3

"The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination."

"The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination."

Elizabeth Hardwick, American Critic

Reading, Experience, Knowledge, Passion

3

"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory."

"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

3

"It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods."

"It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods."

Margaret Fuller, American Critic

Wisdom, Being, Force, Purity

3

"When Louis XIV assumed the reins of government France suddenly and wonderfully came to her maturity; it was as if the whole nation had burst into splendid flower."

"When Louis XIV assumed the reins of government France suddenly and wonderfully came to her maturity; it was as if the whole nation had burst into splendid flower."

Lytton Strachey, English Critic

Government, France, Maturity, Nation

3

"The product of the scientific imagination is a new vision of relations - like that of artistic imagination."

"The product of the scientific imagination is a new vision of relations - like that of artistic imagination."

Edmund Wilson, American Critic

Imagination, Vision

3

bottom of page