Quotes by Critic | Beyond Motive 9/32

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Quotes by Critic

"Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation."

"Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation."

Walter Benjamin, German Critic

Destruction, Ecstasy, Living

41

"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

41

"If you're doing an interview, you need conversational tension. After you talk to them, you're not going to have a relationship with them, they're not going to like you, they're not going to be your friend."

"If you're doing an interview, you need conversational tension. After you talk to them, you're not going to have a relationship with them, they're not going to like you, they're not going to be your friend."

Chuck Klosterman, American Critic

Friendship, Friend, Talk, Tension

41

"What marks the artist is his power to shape the material of pain we all have."

"What marks the artist is his power to shape the material of pain we all have."

Lionel Trilling, American Critic

Power, Artist, Pain

41

"The papacy again, representing the traditional unity of European civilization, has also shown itself unable to limit effectively the push of nationalism."

"The papacy again, representing the traditional unity of European civilization, has also shown itself unable to limit effectively the push of nationalism."

Irving Babbitt, American Critic

Civilization, Nationalism, Unity

41

"My first experiences of academic friendship made me smile in after years when I looked back on them. But my circle of acquaintances had gradually grown so large that it was only natural new friendships should grow out of it."

"My first experiences of academic friendship made me smile in after years when I looked back on them. But my circle of acquaintances had gradually grown so large that it was only natural new friendships should grow out of it."

Georg Brandes, Danish Critic

Friendship, First, Smile, Years

41

"Armaments are necessary - or are maintained on the pretext of necessity - because of a real or an imagined danger of war."

"Armaments are necessary - or are maintained on the pretext of necessity - because of a real or an imagined danger of war."

Ludwig Quidde, German Critic

War, Danger, Necessity

41

"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

41

"Just about this time, when in imagination I was so great a warrior, I had good use in real life for more strength, as I was no longer taken to school by the nurse, but instead had myself to protect my brother, two years my junior."

"Just about this time, when in imagination I was so great a warrior, I had good use in real life for more strength, as I was no longer taken to school by the nurse, but instead had myself to protect my brother, two years my junior."

Georg Brandes, Danish Critic

Strength, Imagination, Life, Time, Brother

41

"My father, though, could run very much faster. It was impossible to compete with him on the grass. But it was astonishing how slow old people were. Some of them could not run up a hill and called it trying to climb stairs."

"My father, though, could run very much faster. It was impossible to compete with him on the grass. But it was astonishing how slow old people were. Some of them could not run up a hill and called it trying to climb stairs."

Georg Brandes, Danish Critic

Family, Father, People, Old, Stairs

41

"I mean the interesting thing I think would be if something happened like, what happened in England where all these kids that all of a sudden can't afford the ticket prices."

"I mean the interesting thing I think would be if something happened like, what happened in England where all these kids that all of a sudden can't afford the ticket prices."

Lester Bangs, American Critic

Music, England, Kids

41

"Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories."

"Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories."

Walter Benjamin, German Critic

Chaos, Memories, Passion

41

"Man is a gaming animal. He must always be trying to get the better in something or other."

"Man is a gaming animal. He must always be trying to get the better in something or other."

Charles Lamb, English Critic

41

"A wise man thinks what is easy is difficult."

"A wise man thinks what is easy is difficult."

John Churton Collins, English Critic

41

"When all the performances are excellent, critics understand it's the direction."

"When all the performances are excellent, critics understand it's the direction."

Joel Siegel, American Critic

41

"The English (it must be owned) are rather a foul-mouthed nation."

"The English (it must be owned) are rather a foul-mouthed nation."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Language, Nation

41

"The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble."

"The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble."

Walter Benjamin, German Critic

Life, Character, Feeling, Living

41

"Civilization is built on a number of ultimate principles... respect for human life, the punishment of crimes against property and persons, the equality of all good citizens before the law... or, in a word justice."

"Civilization is built on a number of ultimate principles... respect for human life, the punishment of crimes against property and persons, the equality of all good citizens before the law... or, in a word justice."

Max Nordau, Hungarian Critic

Equality, Life, Civilization, Justice

41

"When it gets dark enough you can see the stars."

"When it gets dark enough you can see the stars."

Russell Lynes, American Critic

41

"The ultimate sin of any performer is contempt for the audience."

"The ultimate sin of any performer is contempt for the audience."

Lester Bangs, American Critic

Society, Contempt, Sin

41

"I believe that it is impossible for two individuals not committed to their own and each other's well being to sustain a healthy and enduring relationship."

"I believe that it is impossible for two individuals not committed to their own and each other's well being to sustain a healthy and enduring relationship."

bell hooks, American Critic

Relationship, Commitment, Well-Being, Trust

41

"Fascism is not the result of dictatorship."

"Fascism is not the result of dictatorship."

John T. Flynn, American Critic

Politics, Dictatorship, Fascism, Result

41

"We have power as consumers. We can exercise that power all the time by not choosing to invest time, energy or funds to support the production of mass media images that do not reflect life-enhancing values, that undermine a love ethic."

"We have power as consumers. We can exercise that power all the time by not choosing to invest time, energy or funds to support the production of mass media images that do not reflect life-enhancing values, that undermine a love ethic."

bell hooks, American Critic

Power, Choice, Media, Ethics

41

"Zeal will do more than knowledge."

"Zeal will do more than knowledge."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Knowledge, Will, Zeal

41

"At Munich we sold the Czechs for a few months grace, but the disgrace will last as long as history."

"At Munich we sold the Czechs for a few months grace, but the disgrace will last as long as history."

F. L. Lucas, English Critic

History, Disgrace, Months, Will

41

"Gertrude Stein really thought of Hemingway as frail. He almost married Stein."

"Gertrude Stein really thought of Hemingway as frail. He almost married Stein."

Leslie Fiedler, American Critic

41

"Everything changed in Bosnia, when General Wesley Clark proved that you could fight a war with high- level precision air strikes and a bare minimum of ground action."

"Everything changed in Bosnia, when General Wesley Clark proved that you could fight a war with high- level precision air strikes and a bare minimum of ground action."

Joe Bob Briggs, American Critic

War, Action, Fight

40

"Criticism in the universities, I'll have to admit, has entered a phase where I am totally out of sympathy with 95% of what goes on. It's Stalinism without Stalin."

"Criticism in the universities, I'll have to admit, has entered a phase where I am totally out of sympathy with 95% of what goes on. It's Stalinism without Stalin."

Harold Bloom, American Critic

Sympathy, Criticism

40

"I just feel tired now if people are shocked. If it's not for you, just don't bloody watch it."

"I just feel tired now if people are shocked. If it's not for you, just don't bloody watch it."

Chris Morris, British Critic

40

"I think the pattern of my essays is, A funny thing happened to me on my way through Finnegans Wake."

"I think the pattern of my essays is, A funny thing happened to me on my way through Finnegans Wake."

Leslie Fiedler, American Critic

40

"The character and history of each child may be a new and poetic experience to the parent, if he will let it."

"The character and history of each child may be a new and poetic experience to the parent, if he will let it."

Margaret Fuller, American Critic

Experience, History, Character, May

40

"Happiness is composed of misfortunes avoided."

"Happiness is composed of misfortunes avoided."

Alphonse Karr, French Critic

40

"If one were to take the bible seriously one would go mad. But to take the bible seriously, one must be already mad."

"If one were to take the bible seriously one would go mad. But to take the bible seriously, one must be already mad."

Aleister Crowley, English Critic

40

"But the myth of violent solutions as the ultimate solutions maintains itself in much of popular media."

"But the myth of violent solutions as the ultimate solutions maintains itself in much of popular media."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Media, Myth, Popular

40

"In Fargo, they say, well, that's a job. How well do you get paid? For example, for this book I was written about in Entertainment Weekly, and it was kind of cool because my mom asked me if Entertainment Weekly was a magazine or a newspaper."

"In Fargo, they say, well, that's a job. How well do you get paid? For example, for this book I was written about in Entertainment Weekly, and it was kind of cool because my mom asked me if Entertainment Weekly was a magazine or a newspaper."

Chuck Klosterman, American Critic

Family, Mom, Entertainment, Example, Job

40

"No two persons ever read the same book."

"No two persons ever read the same book."

Edmund Wilson, American Critic

40

"A lot of people just go to movies that feed into their preexisting and not so noble needs and desires: They just go to action pictures, and things like that."

"A lot of people just go to movies that feed into their preexisting and not so noble needs and desires: They just go to action pictures, and things like that."

Roger Ebert, American Critic

Movies, People, Action, Needs

40

"A city whose living immediacy is so urgent that when I am in it I lose all sense of the past."

"A city whose living immediacy is so urgent that when I am in it I lose all sense of the past."

Kenneth Tynan, English Critic

Living, Past, Sense

40

"Being gifted needs courage."

"Being gifted needs courage."

Georg Brandes, Danish Critic

Courage, Being, Needs

40

"But when I was twelve years old I caught my first strong glimpse of one of the fundamental forces of existence, whose votary I was destined to be for life - namely, Beauty."

"But when I was twelve years old I caught my first strong glimpse of one of the fundamental forces of existence, whose votary I was destined to be for life - namely, Beauty."

Georg Brandes, Danish Critic

Life, Beauty, Existence, First

40

"In other words, New York has gone all suburban and bourgeois on us."

"In other words, New York has gone all suburban and bourgeois on us."

Joe Bob Briggs, American Critic

Urbanization, Words

40

"The lies the government and media tell are amplifications of the lies we tell ourselves. To stop being conned, stop conning yourself."

"The lies the government and media tell are amplifications of the lies we tell ourselves. To stop being conned, stop conning yourself."

James Wolcott, American Critic

Government, Being, Lies, Media

40

"Counsel woven into the fabric of real life is wisdom."

"Counsel woven into the fabric of real life is wisdom."

Walter Benjamin, German Critic

40

"The old interests of aristocracy - the romance of action, the exalted passions of chivalry and war - faded into the background, and their place was taken by the refined and intimate pursuits of peace and civilization."

"The old interests of aristocracy - the romance of action, the exalted passions of chivalry and war - faded into the background, and their place was taken by the refined and intimate pursuits of peace and civilization."

Lytton Strachey, English Critic

Peace, War, Romance, Civilization

40

"Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor become identical."

"Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor become identical."

Margaret Fuller, American Critic

Life, Politics, Policy, Heart

40

"The people who have really made history are the martyrs."

"The people who have really made history are the martyrs."

Aleister Crowley, English Critic

History, People, Martyrs

40

"I don't hold that everybody has to love fashion. Some people like gardening."

"I don't hold that everybody has to love fashion. Some people like gardening."

Steven Cojocaru, Canadian Critic

Gardening, Love, People, Fashion

40

"What we need in America is a renaissance. We need to go forward by going backward."

"What we need in America is a renaissance. We need to go forward by going backward."

Stanley Crouch, American Critic

Progress, America

40

"The truly proud man knows neither superiors or inferiors. The first he does not admit of - the last he does not concern himself about."

"The truly proud man knows neither superiors or inferiors. The first he does not admit of - the last he does not concern himself about."

William Hazlitt, English Critic

Concern, First, Man

40

"When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some of its radiance."

"When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some of its radiance."

Anatole Broyard, American Critic

Friendship, Being, Friends, World

40

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