Quotes by Critic | Beyond Motive 21/32

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Quotes by Critic

"A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market."

"A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

30

"It will be sufficient to point to the enormous burdens which armaments place on the economic, social, and intellectual resources of a nation, as well as on its budget and taxes."

"It will be sufficient to point to the enormous burdens which armaments place on the economic, social, and intellectual resources of a nation, as well as on its budget and taxes."

Ludwig Quidde, German Critic

Nation, Taxes, Will

30

"Second, a quarter to a third of those who listen to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are liberals."

"Second, a quarter to a third of those who listen to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are liberals."

Paul Weyrich, American Critic

Media, Liberals

30

"When you're artistic director of a program, you present the music you want to present."

"When you're artistic director of a program, you present the music you want to present."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Music, Present, Want

30

"I think the writing of literature should give pleasure. What else should it be about? It is not nuclear physics. It actually has to give pleasure or it is worth nothing."

"I think the writing of literature should give pleasure. What else should it be about? It is not nuclear physics. It actually has to give pleasure or it is worth nothing."

Stephen Greenblatt, American Critic

Literature, Nothing, Physics, Pleasure

30

"Cynicism is the intellectual cripple's substitute for intelligence."

"Cynicism is the intellectual cripple's substitute for intelligence."

Russell Lynes, American Critic

Intelligence, Cynicism

30

"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

30

"The age of the book is almost gone."

"The age of the book is almost gone."

George Steiner, American Critic

30

"Poetry had far better imply things than preach them directly... in the open pulpit her voice grows hoarse and fails."

"Poetry had far better imply things than preach them directly... in the open pulpit her voice grows hoarse and fails."

F. L. Lucas, English Critic

Poetry, Open, Voice

30

"John Goodman is more that just a big guy, he's a wonderful actor."

"John Goodman is more that just a big guy, he's a wonderful actor."

Gene Siskel, American Critic

30

"When we root-root-root for the home team, we're rooting for our home as much as the team."

"When we root-root-root for the home team, we're rooting for our home as much as the team."

Richard Roeper, American Critic

30

"To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The greater the disturbance, the greater the possibility of misunderstanding."

"To be misunderstood can be the writer's punishment for having disturbed the reader's peace. The greater the disturbance, the greater the possibility of misunderstanding."

Anatole Broyard, American Critic

Peace, Possibility, Punishment, Writer

30

"Conservative talk radio works because there are lots of conservatives who are convinced that they are not getting the whole story from the regular media."

"Conservative talk radio works because there are lots of conservatives who are convinced that they are not getting the whole story from the regular media."

Paul Weyrich, American Critic

Conservative, Media, Talk

30

"To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind."

"To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Friendship, Love, Heart, Strength

30

"We grow gray in our spirit long before we grow gray in our hair."

"We grow gray in our spirit long before we grow gray in our hair."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

30

"Unfortunately, I'm not a person that's always capable of living up to the Boy Scout philosophy."

"Unfortunately, I'm not a person that's always capable of living up to the Boy Scout philosophy."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Living, Philosophy

30

"How it is that within 60 days of a general election issue, groups can no longer tell voters that a Member of Congress votes pro-abortion, against guns, against the environment or whatever else is beyond me."

"How it is that within 60 days of a general election issue, groups can no longer tell voters that a Member of Congress votes pro-abortion, against guns, against the environment or whatever else is beyond me."

Paul Weyrich, American Critic

Politics, Congress, Environment

30

"As you know from reading many of these Negro writers, we don't deal too much with the discussion of democracy and what it means and how improvisation fits in all that."

"As you know from reading many of these Negro writers, we don't deal too much with the discussion of democracy and what it means and how improvisation fits in all that."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Democracy, Reading, Writers

30

"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be."

"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Difference, Man

30

"Most people in this country believe that the American Communist Party and its dupes are the chief internal enemy of our economic system and our form of government. This is a serious mistake."

"Most people in this country believe that the American Communist Party and its dupes are the chief internal enemy of our economic system and our form of government. This is a serious mistake."

John T. Flynn, American Critic

Government, Mistake, People

30

"There is no joy so great as that of reporting that a good play has come to town."

"There is no joy so great as that of reporting that a good play has come to town."

Brooks Atkinson, American Critic

30

"We demand that people should be true to the pictures we have of them, no matter how repulsive those pictures may be: we prefer the true portrait in all its homogeneity, to one with a detail added which refuses to fit in."

"We demand that people should be true to the pictures we have of them, no matter how repulsive those pictures may be: we prefer the true portrait in all its homogeneity, to one with a detail added which refuses to fit in."

Pamela Hansford Johnson, English Critic

People, Detail, May

30

"The fifties - they seem to have taken place on a sunny afternoon that asked nothing of you except a drifting belief in the moment and its power to satisfy."

"The fifties - they seem to have taken place on a sunny afternoon that asked nothing of you except a drifting belief in the moment and its power to satisfy."

Elizabeth Hardwick, American Critic

Power, Belief, Nothing

30

"Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you."

"Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you."

Roger Ebert, American Critic

Lie, Emotions, Intellect, May

30

"I think most people are more susceptible to prejudice than to reason."

"I think most people are more susceptible to prejudice than to reason."

Roger Ebert, American Critic

People, Prejudice, Reason

30

"Sainthood is acceptable only in saints."

"Sainthood is acceptable only in saints."

Pamela Hansford Johnson, English Critic

Religion, Saints

30

"To live fully we would need to let go of our fear of dying. That fear can only be addressed by the love of living. We have a long history in this nation of believing that to be too celebratory is dangerous, that being optimistic is foolhardy, hence our difficulty in celebrating life, in teaching our children and ourselves how to love life."

"To live fully we would need to let go of our fear of dying. That fear can only be addressed by the love of living. We have a long history in this nation of believing that to be too celebratory is dangerous, that being optimistic is foolhardy, hence our difficulty in celebrating life, in teaching our children and ourselves how to love life."

bell hooks, American Critic

Life, Fear, Love, Optimism

30

"How prone poor Humanity is to dam up the minutest remnants of its freedom, and build an artificial roof to prevent it looking up to the clear blue sky."

"How prone poor Humanity is to dam up the minutest remnants of its freedom, and build an artificial roof to prevent it looking up to the clear blue sky."

E. T. A. Hoffmann, German Critic

Freedom, Humanity, Poor, Sky

30

"The world gets older, without getting either better or worse and so does literature. But I do think that the drab current phenomenon that passes for literary studies in the university will finally provide its own corrective."

"The world gets older, without getting either better or worse and so does literature. But I do think that the drab current phenomenon that passes for literary studies in the university will finally provide its own corrective."

Harold Bloom, American Critic

Literature, Literary, University, Will

30

"The only hope I can see for the future depends on a wiser and braver use of the reason, not a panic flight from it."

"The only hope I can see for the future depends on a wiser and braver use of the reason, not a panic flight from it."

F. L. Lucas, English Critic

Hope, Future, Reason

30

"The popular, and one may say naive, idea is that peace can be secured by disarmament and that disarmament must therefore precede the attainment of absolute security and lasting peace."

"The popular, and one may say naive, idea is that peace can be secured by disarmament and that disarmament must therefore precede the attainment of absolute security and lasting peace."

Ludwig Quidde, German Critic

Peace, Idea, May, Popular

30

"The various forms of intellectual activity which together make up the culture of an age, move for the most part from different starting-points, and by unconnected roads."

"The various forms of intellectual activity which together make up the culture of an age, move for the most part from different starting-points, and by unconnected roads."

Walter Pater, English Critic

30

"One of the most beautiful passages of Rousseau is that in the sixth book of Confessions, where he describes the awakening in him of the literary sense. Of such wisdom, the poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art for its own sake, has most."

"One of the most beautiful passages of Rousseau is that in the sixth book of Confessions, where he describes the awakening in him of the literary sense. Of such wisdom, the poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art for its own sake, has most."

Walter Pater, English Critic

Wisdom, Art, Love, Beauty

30

"Those who set out to serve both God and Mammon soon discover that there isn't a God."

"Those who set out to serve both God and Mammon soon discover that there isn't a God."

Logan Pearsall Smith, American Critic

30

"The measure of choosing well, is, whether a man likes and finds good in what he has chosen."

"The measure of choosing well, is, whether a man likes and finds good in what he has chosen."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

30

"The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of the self in its quarrel with its society and its culture. Literature is in that sense subversive."

"The function of literature, through all its mutations, has been to make us aware of the particularity of selves, and the high authority of the self in its quarrel with its society and its culture. Literature is in that sense subversive."

Lionel Trilling, American Critic

Society, Authority, Culture, Literature

30

"No truly great person ever thought themselves so."

"No truly great person ever thought themselves so."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

29

"Hemingway seems to be in a funny position. People nowadays can't identify with him closely as a member of their own generation, and he isn't yet historical."

"Hemingway seems to be in a funny position. People nowadays can't identify with him closely as a member of their own generation, and he isn't yet historical."

Leslie Fiedler, American Critic

Fun, Funny, People

29

"That which is not, shall never be; that which is, shall never cease to be. To the wise, these truths are self-evident."

"That which is not, shall never be; that which is, shall never cease to be. To the wise, these truths are self-evident."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

29

"Boys should not play with weapons more dangerous than they understand."

"Boys should not play with weapons more dangerous than they understand."

E. T. A. Hoffmann, German Critic

Boys, Play, Weapons

29

"Nothing risque, nothing gained."

"Nothing risque, nothing gained."

Alexander Woollcott, American Critic

29

"I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance."

"I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance."

bell hooks, American Critic

Life, Ignorance, Whim, Will

29

"Raymond Carver is good. I think he'll be appreciated more and more. He's an easy writer to imitate."

"Raymond Carver is good. I think he'll be appreciated more and more. He's an easy writer to imitate."

Leslie Fiedler, American Critic

Literature, Writer

29

"I'm very grateful to Jennifer Lopez, because I have something to talk about for the last couple of years."

"I'm very grateful to Jennifer Lopez, because I have something to talk about for the last couple of years."

Steven Cojocaru, Canadian Critic

29

"We are all ill: but even a universal sickness implies an idea of health."

"We are all ill: but even a universal sickness implies an idea of health."

Lionel Trilling, American Critic

Health, Idea, Sickness

29

"With this sense of the splendour of our experience and of its awful brevity, gathering all we are into one desperate effort to see and touch, we shall hardly have time to make theories about the things we see and touch."

"With this sense of the splendour of our experience and of its awful brevity, gathering all we are into one desperate effort to see and touch, we shall hardly have time to make theories about the things we see and touch."

Walter Pater, English Critic

Experience, Time, Brevity, Effort

29

"What we know is that Shakespeare wrote perhaps the most remarkable body of passionate love poetry in the English language to a young man."

"What we know is that Shakespeare wrote perhaps the most remarkable body of passionate love poetry in the English language to a young man."

Stephen Greenblatt, American Critic

Love, Poetry, Body, English

29

"It's a good question, because a movie isn't good or bad based on its politics. It's usually good or bad for other reasons, though you might agree or disagree with its politics."

"It's a good question, because a movie isn't good or bad based on its politics. It's usually good or bad for other reasons, though you might agree or disagree with its politics."

Roger Ebert, American Critic

Politics, Question

29

"If improving conditions in the workplace for women had been a central agenda for feminist movement in conjunction with efforts to obtain better paying jobs for women and finding jobs for unemployed women of all classes, feminism would have been seen as a movement addressing the concerns of all women."

"If improving conditions in the workplace for women had been a central agenda for feminist movement in conjunction with efforts to obtain better paying jobs for women and finding jobs for unemployed women of all classes, feminism would have been seen as a movement addressing the concerns of all women."

bell hooks, American Critic

Feminism, Equality, Class, Movement

29

"There is no post-9/11. Everything from now until the end of time is post-9/11."

"There is no post-9/11. Everything from now until the end of time is post-9/11."

Joe Bob Briggs, American Critic

Time, End, Now, Post

29

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