Quotes by Critic | Beyond Motive 8/32

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Quotes by Critic

"Big business, for all its lobbying, is often put in line by investigative reporting, public scandals and multi-million-dollar judgments in court against those who put products on the market that are dangerous to their buyers."

"Big business, for all its lobbying, is often put in line by investigative reporting, public scandals and multi-million-dollar judgments in court against those who put products on the market that are dangerous to their buyers."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Business, Court, Public

43

"In my estimation, the only thing that is more to be guarded against than bad taste is good taste."

"In my estimation, the only thing that is more to be guarded against than bad taste is good taste."

Russell Lynes, American Critic

43

"Some television programs are so much chewing gum for the eyes."

"Some television programs are so much chewing gum for the eyes."

John Mason Brown, American Critic

Television, Eyes

42

"Tell him, on the contrary, that he needs, in the interest of his own happiness, to walk in the path of humility and self-control, and he will be indifferent, or even actively resentful."

"Tell him, on the contrary, that he needs, in the interest of his own happiness, to walk in the path of humility and self-control, and he will be indifferent, or even actively resentful."

Irving Babbitt, American Critic

Happiness, Humility, Interest, Needs

42

"Here we are in the 70's when everything really is horrible and it really stinks. The mass media, everything on television everything everywhere is just rotten. You know it's just really boring and really evil, ugly and worse."

"Here we are in the 70's when everything really is horrible and it really stinks. The mass media, everything on television everything everywhere is just rotten. You know it's just really boring and really evil, ugly and worse."

Lester Bangs, American Critic

Evil, Media, Television, Ugly

42

"Genius and virtue are to be more often found clothed in gray than in peacock bright."

"Genius and virtue are to be more often found clothed in gray than in peacock bright."

Van Wyck Brooks, American Critic

42

"It will never be mistaken for a high school gymnasium or a meeting room in a Midwestern motel."

"It will never be mistaken for a high school gymnasium or a meeting room in a Midwestern motel."

Donal Henahan, American Critic

Meeting, School, Will

42

"But having said that, what's happening with campaign finance reform and our political culture is devastating."

"But having said that, what's happening with campaign finance reform and our political culture is devastating."

Robert McChesney, American Critic

Finance, Culture, Reform

42

"I don't see that there are any particular changes in popular music."

"I don't see that there are any particular changes in popular music."

Lester Bangs, American Critic

42

"We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day's work at Auschwitz in the morning."

"We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day's work at Auschwitz in the morning."

George Steiner, American Critic

Work, Day, Evening, Man

42

"A good drama critic is one who perceives what is happening in the theatre of his time. A great drama critic also perceives what is not happening."

"A good drama critic is one who perceives what is happening in the theatre of his time. A great drama critic also perceives what is not happening."

Kenneth Tynan, English Critic

Time, Drama, Theatre

42

"The humanities need to be defended today against the encroachments of physical science, as they once needed to be against the encroachment of theology."

"The humanities need to be defended today against the encroachments of physical science, as they once needed to be against the encroachment of theology."

Irving Babbitt, American Critic

Science, Theology, Today

42

"Indeed the three prophecies about the death of individual art are, in their different ways, those of Hegel, Marx, and Freud. I don't see any way of getting beyond those prophecies."

"Indeed the three prophecies about the death of individual art are, in their different ways, those of Hegel, Marx, and Freud. I don't see any way of getting beyond those prophecies."

Harold Bloom, American Critic

42

"Even a total and universal disarmament does not guarantee the maintenance of peace."

"Even a total and universal disarmament does not guarantee the maintenance of peace."

Ludwig Quidde, German Critic

42

"A lot of people have this strategy where if they have a hard question they wait to ask it to the end of the interview because they think the person is going to walk out. But what they have to realize is, is that if the person walks out, they have a pretty successful story."

"A lot of people have this strategy where if they have a hard question they wait to ask it to the end of the interview because they think the person is going to walk out. But what they have to realize is, is that if the person walks out, they have a pretty successful story."

Chuck Klosterman, American Critic

Success, People, Strategy, Successful, End

42

"I'm not getting paid right now. No pay, no critique."

"I'm not getting paid right now. No pay, no critique."

Steven Cojocaru, Canadian Critic

42

"Books and harlots have their quarrels in public."

"Books and harlots have their quarrels in public."

Walter Benjamin, German Critic

Books, Public, Quarrels

42

"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

42

"Pain is life - the sharper, the more evidence of life."

"Pain is life - the sharper, the more evidence of life."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

42

"But Fascism cannot continue in a modified form."

"But Fascism cannot continue in a modified form."

John T. Flynn, American Critic

Politics, Fascism

42

"Wal-Mart doesn't really care about your faith. Wal-Mart cares if you have money to spend, and it is going to be as generic as possible in exploiting the holiday season for every buck it can make."

"Wal-Mart doesn't really care about your faith. Wal-Mart cares if you have money to spend, and it is going to be as generic as possible in exploiting the holiday season for every buck it can make."

Richard Roeper, American Critic

Money, Faith, Care, Holiday

42

"Prejudice is the child of ignorance."

"Prejudice is the child of ignorance."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Ignorance, Prejudice

42

"Barack Obama is a truly flabbergasting President. And in a good way - not the way some of his predecessors were. He's not flabberghastly. He's not the student who wears a button that says, 'Smartest kid in class,' but clearly he is, at least when surrounded by the White House press corps."

"Barack Obama is a truly flabbergasting President. And in a good way - not the way some of his predecessors were. He's not flabberghastly. He's not the student who wears a button that says, 'Smartest kid in class,' but clearly he is, at least when surrounded by the White House press corps."

Tom Shale, American Critic

Class, President, Press

42

"The studio should not have released this film."

"The studio should not have released this film."

Joel Siegel, American Critic

42

"The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test: for it is on that on which our success in life depends."

"The world judge of men by their ability in their profession, and we judge of ourselves by the same test: for it is on that on which our success in life depends."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Life, Men, Success, Ability

42

"Envy among other ingredients has a mixture of the love of justice in it. We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good-fortune."

"Envy among other ingredients has a mixture of the love of justice in it. We are more angry at undeserved than at deserved good-fortune."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Love, Envy, Justice

42

"The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working."

"The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working."

Ernest Newman, English Critic

42

"Falsehood is invariably the child of fear in one form or another."

"Falsehood is invariably the child of fear in one form or another."

Aleister Crowley, English Critic

Fear, Falsehood

42

"Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live."

"Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live."

Margaret Fuller, American Critic

Man, Men, Forget, Living

42

"My mind is not a bed to be made and re-made."

"My mind is not a bed to be made and re-made."

James Agate, British Critic

42

"We pacifists have not ceased to point to the grave danger of armaments and to insist on their curtailment."

"We pacifists have not ceased to point to the grave danger of armaments and to insist on their curtailment."

Ludwig Quidde, German Critic

42

"Like many liberal men in the age of feminism, he believed women should have equal access to jobs and be given equal pay, but when it came to matters of home and heart he still believed caregiving was the female role. Like many men, he wanted a woman to be 'just like his mama' so that he did not have to do the work of growing up."

"Like many liberal men in the age of feminism, he believed women should have equal access to jobs and be given equal pay, but when it came to matters of home and heart he still believed caregiving was the female role. Like many men, he wanted a woman to be 'just like his mama' so that he did not have to do the work of growing up."

bell hooks, American Critic

Gender, Feminism, Home, Tradition

42

"The great thing about The Clash of course is that they keep searching for answers beyond that."

"The great thing about The Clash of course is that they keep searching for answers beyond that."

Lester Bangs, American Critic

42

"To me a book is a message from the gods to mankind; or, if not, should never be published at all."

"To me a book is a message from the gods to mankind; or, if not, should never be published at all."

Aleister Crowley, English Critic

God, Gods, Mankind

42

"Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open."

"Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open."

Pauline Kael, American Critic

Chance, Ending, Open, Want

41

"I'll tell you, I think that the Internet has provided an enormous boost to film criticism by giving people an opportunity to self publish or to find sites that are friendly."

"I'll tell you, I think that the Internet has provided an enormous boost to film criticism by giving people an opportunity to self publish or to find sites that are friendly."

Roger Ebert, American Critic

People, Opportunity, Criticism, Film

41

"Lawyers, I suppose, were children once."

"Lawyers, I suppose, were children once."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

Family, Children, Lawyers

41

"Absent scandal, a federal judge can serve for decades on the bench, underscoring the importance of appointing judges who have a proper understanding of their constitutional role."

"Absent scandal, a federal judge can serve for decades on the bench, underscoring the importance of appointing judges who have a proper understanding of their constitutional role."

Paul Weyrich, American Critic

Importance, Judges, Scandal, Understanding

41

"I have, I admit, a low tolerance for detached chronicling and cool analysis."

"I have, I admit, a low tolerance for detached chronicling and cool analysis."

Leslie Fiedler, American Critic

Literature, Tolerance

41

"So is it always nationalist to resist US globalization? The US thinks it is, and wants you to agree; and, moreover, to consider US interests as being universal ones."

"So is it always nationalist to resist US globalization? The US thinks it is, and wants you to agree; and, moreover, to consider US interests as being universal ones."

Fredric Jameson, American Critic

Being, Globalization

41

"It is essential to the triumph of reform that it shall never succeed."

"It is essential to the triumph of reform that it shall never succeed."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Reform, Success, Persistence, Resistance

41

"So that what you tend to see is someone like a Rush Limbaugh, he's the classic case because he's the most successful, he didn't sort of like come out of his mother's womb with the highest ratings in the country."

"So that what you tend to see is someone like a Rush Limbaugh, he's the classic case because he's the most successful, he didn't sort of like come out of his mother's womb with the highest ratings in the country."

Robert McChesney, American Critic

Family, Mother, Successful, Country

41

"A critic is a man who knows the way but can't drive the car."

"A critic is a man who knows the way but can't drive the car."

Kenneth Tynan, English Critic

41

"Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever."

"Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

Humor, April, Fools, World

41

"For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long than too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture."

"For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long than too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture."

Roland Barthes, French Critic

41

"Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice. Rape, originally defined as abduction, became marriage by capture. Marriage meant the taking was to extend in time, to be not only use of but possession of, or ownership."

"Marriage as an institution developed from rape as a practice. Rape, originally defined as abduction, became marriage by capture. Marriage meant the taking was to extend in time, to be not only use of but possession of, or ownership."

Andrea Dworkin, American Critic

Marriage, Time, Ownership, Possession

41

"A mistake in judgment isn't fatal, but too much anxiety about judgment is."

"A mistake in judgment isn't fatal, but too much anxiety about judgment is."

Pauline Kael, American Critic

Mistake, Anxiety, Judgment

41

"Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people."

"Boys are capital fellows in their own way, among their mates; but they are unwholesome companions for grown people."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

41

"The sheer complexity of writing a play always had dazzled me. In an effort to understand it, I became a critic."

"The sheer complexity of writing a play always had dazzled me. In an effort to understand it, I became a critic."

Kenneth Tynan, English Critic

Writing, Complexity, Effort, Play

41

"Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian - ignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the highest art."

"Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian - ignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the highest art."

Lytton Strachey, English Critic

Art, First, Ignorance, Perfection

41

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