Sayings about Criticism
It is easier to criticize than to do better. ~ Swiss Proverbs
You must judge a man by the work of his hands. ~ African Proverb
If you want to be criticized, marry. ~ Irish Proverb
Don’t judge a book by its cover. ~ English Proverbs
The rattan basket criticizes the palm-leafed bag, yet both are full of holes. ~ Filipino Proverb
When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart. ~ Russian Proverb
Condemn a man within earshot; praise him at a distance. ~ Yugoslavian Proverb
To criticize is easy, to do is difficult. ~ German Proverbs
The wise understand; fools follow the reports of others. ~ Tibetan Proverbs
Criticism of the state is all right, but don’t forget the nation is you. ~ German Proverb
Really to stop criticism one must die. ~ French Proverb
Whoever writes a book should be ready to accept criticism. ~ Iraqi Proverbs
Judge not the horse by his saddle. ~ Chinese Proverb
Those who have free tickets to the theater have the most criticism to make. ~ Chinese Proverb
Never criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his moccasins. ~ American Proverb
Children have more need of models than critics. ~ French Proverb
Never judge from appearances. ~ Traditional Proverb
Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat. ~ Gaelic Proverb
Never judge things of which you only know the shadow. ~ Japanese Proverbs
Do not judge your fellow man until you have stood in his place. ~ Hebrew Proverb
Quotations about Criticism
Criticism, as it was first introduced by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well. ~ Samuel Johnson
Give a critic an inch, he’ll write a play. ~ John Steinbeck
They condemn what they do not understand. ~ Marcus T. Cicero
The rule in carving holds good as to criticism; never cut with a knife what you can cut with a spoon. ~ Charles Buxton
Criticism is not construction, it is observation. ~ George William Curtis
A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction than praise, provided it smacks of jealousy. ~ Jean Baudrillard
It is easy to criticize an author, but it is difficult to appreciate him. ~ Vauvenargues
Ill writers are usually the sharpest censors. ~ John Dryden
Critics are like brushers of noblemen’s clothes. ~ Sir Henry Wotton
No work deserves to be criticized that has not much in it that deserves to be applauded. ~ Christian Nestell Bovee
Most critical writing is drivel and half of it is dishonest. It is a short cut to oblivion, anyway. Thinking in terms of ideas destroys the power to think in terms of emotions and sensations. ~ Raymond Chandler
One becomes a critic when one cannot be an artist, just as a man becomes a stool pigeon when he cannot be a soldier. ~ Gustave Flaubert
A wise scepticism is the first attribute of a good critic. ~ James Russell Lowell
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
Critics are sentinels in the grand army of letters, stationed at the corners of newspapers and reviews, to challenge every new author. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The strength of criticism lies only in the weakness of the thing criticized. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In criticism I will be bold, and sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic. ~ Oscar Wilde
If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much. ~ Donald Rumsfeld
In judging others, folks will work overtime for no pay. ~ Charles Edwin Carruthers
The finer house you build the sharper will be the criticism. ~ Lewis F. Korns
The perfect critic is one … that sees with the eyes of posterity. ~ Austin O’Malley
Criticism is as often a trade as a science; it requiring more health than wit, more labor than capacity, more practice than genius. ~ Jean de la Bruyere
Criticism is our weak point. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Probably you have noted the resemblance of the critic to the crank. ~ Edgar Watson Howe
Sir, there is no end of negative criticism. ~ Samuel Johnson
What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you. ~ Jean Cocteau
Criticism is the child and handmaid of reflection. ~ Richard Grant White
Those who do not read criticism will rarely merit to be criticized. ~ Isaac D’Israeli
There is no defense against criticism except obscurity. ~ Joseph Addison
Unlike other people, our reviewers are powerful because they believe in nothing. ~ Harold Clurman
The biggest critics of my books are people who never read them. ~ Jackie Collins
Criticism is a misconception. We must read not to understand others but to understand ourselves. ~ E. M. Cioran
He cannot be strict in judging, who does not wish others to be strict judges of himself. ~ Marcus T. Cicero
Reviewers are forever telling authors they can’t understand them. The author might often reply: Is that my fault? ~ A.W. Hare and J.C. Hare
In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal rule that good poets are bad critics. ~ Thomas Babington Macaulay
They have a right to censure, that have a heart to help. ~ William Penn
He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Criticism should be a casual conversation. ~ W. H. Auden
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. ~ Winston Churchill
Criticism: that fine flower of personal expression in the garden of letters. ~ Joseph Conrad
It is from the womb of art that criticism was born. ~ Charles Baudelaire
Post-modernism has cut off the present from all futures. The daily media add to this by cutting off the past. Which means that critical opinion is often orphaned in the present. ~ John Berger
The pleasure of criticism takes away from us the pleasure of being deeply moved by very fine things. ~ Jean De La Bruyere
Sympathy is the first condition of criticism; reason and justice presuppose, at their origin, emotion. ~ Henri-Frederic Amiel
A man must serve his time to every trade save censure — critics all are ready made. ~ Lord Byron
Make it your habit not to be critical about small things. ~ Edward Everett Hale
Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you’ve got a pretty neck. ~ Eli Wallach
Dare to risk public criticism. ~ Mary Kay Ash
Criticism is a life without risk. ~ John Lahr
A good writer is not necessarily a good book critic. No more so than a good drunk is automatically a good bartender. ~ Jim Bishop
Criticism is above all a gift, an intuition, a matter of tact and flair; it cannot be taught or demonstrated–it is an art. ~ Henri-Frederic Amyl
When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home. ~ Winston Churchill
Neither praise nor blame is the object of true criticism. Justly to discriminate, firmly to establish, wisely to prescribe and honestly to award–these are the true aims and duties of criticism. ~ William Gilmore Simms
Being a critic is a terrific method for killing your love of art. ~ David Toop
Criticism is a study by which men grow important and formidable at very small expense. ~ Samuel Johnson
Critics! Those cutthroat bandits in the paths of fame. ~ Robert Burns
The legitimate aim of criticism is to direct attention to the excellent. The bad will dig its own grave. ~ Christian Nestell Bovee
Critics are already made. ~ Lord Byron
Remember that nobody will ever get ahead of you as long as he is kicking you in the seat of the pants. ~ Walter Winchell
You know who critics are?–the men who have failed in literature and art. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
Criticism is prejudice made plausible. ~ Henry Louis Mencken
Culture is only true when implicitly critical, and the mind which forgets this revenges itself in the critics it breeds. Criticism is an indispensable element of culture. ~ Theodor W. Adorno
Writing about music is like dancing about architecture; it’s a really stupid thing to want to do. ~ Elvis Costello
