30 Critics' Quotes

In the ever-evolving world of literature, art, film, and theater, critics play a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and enriching our understanding. Their sharp observations and eloquent expressions often capture the essence of a piece in ways that are both thought-provoking and transformative. In this post, we're excited to bring you a curated collection of the top 30 critics' quotes. Whether you're looking for inspiration, reflection, or a deeper appreciation of the critical eye, these quotes offer a glimpse into the minds of those who artfully dissect and celebrate creative works. Join us as we explore the wisdom and wit of some of the most respected voices in criticism.

1. “Critics are to authors what dogs are to lamp-posts.” - Jeffrey Robinson

2. “Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you’ve got a pretty neck” - Eli Wallach

3. “Some people insist that 'mediocre' is better than 'best.' They delight in clipping wings because they themselves can't fly. They despise brains because they have none.” - Robert A. Heinlein

4. “Has anybody ever seen a drama critic in the daytime? Of course not. They come out after dark, up to no good.” - P.G. Wodehouse

5. “Some people have been unkind. If I say I want to grow as an actress, they look at my figure. If I say I want to develop, to learn my craft, they laugh. Somehow they don't expect me to be serious about my work.” - Marilyn Monroe

6. “Actions lie louder than words.” - Carolyn Wells

7. “Anyone who finds himself incapable of grasping the complexities of a work hides his withdrawal behind the most superficial pretext because he has not gotten past the surface.” - Julio Cortazar

8. “The uncreative will always waste their energies on the impossible. Be unable to recognize the boundaries, how much of the spiritual the objects can bear and assume.” - Carl Einstein

9. “That was excellently observed’, say I, when I read a passage in an author, where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, there I pronounce him to be mistaken.” - Jonathan Swift

10. “Not a moment passes these days without fresh rushes of academic lemmings off the cliffs they proclaim the political responsibilities of the critic, but eventually all this moralizing will subside.” - Harold Bloom

11. “It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man's oration, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in it's place is a work extremely troublesome.” - Plutarch

12. “Anybody will do for you, but not for me. I must have somebody.” - Abraham Lincoln

13. “Don't bow down to critics who have not themselves written great masterpieces.” - Lawrence Ferlinghetti

14. “Sharks are workers like the critics remoras.” - Miguel Ángel Sáez Gutiérrez «Marino»

15. “I've been all over the world and I've never seen a statue of a critic.” - Leonard Bernstein

16. “If you love my work, you are a good critic. If you do not love my work, you are a 'not good' critic.” - Roman Payne

17. “Hate the critics? I have nothing but compassion for them. How can one hate the crippled, the mentally deficient, and the dead?” - Ronald Harwood

18. “Before cruelly vilifying them from a great height, the mudslingers at newspapers and journals should bear in mind that all artistic endeavors were by and large a mixture of effort and imagination, the embodiment of a solitary endeavor, of a sometimes long-nurtured dream, when they were not a desperate bid to give life meaning.” - Félix J. Palma

19. “نحن لا يمكن أن نجبر فناناً على أن يعمل بخلاف ما تمليه عليه طبيعته وإلا كنا نجبره على التصنع والتكلف، وهذا شر لا يمكن أن يؤذي الأدب والفن، والمسألة في غاية البساطة مع ذلك، فإذا كنا نتيح للفنان حريته كاملة، فنحن أيضاً أحرار في تقييمنا للأعمال الفنية، فلا نمنح تقديرنا إلا لمن يقدم لنا العمل الفني الكامل، وهو العمل الفني الرفيع فنياً النافع إنسانياً واجتماعياً” - توفيق الحكيم

20. “Critical voices have to care about history. We have to care about the way in which things get controlled in the past because that's when the damage gets done and if we don't keep that historical memory, we will allow them to do it again next time.” - Martin Baker

21. “Often people that criticise your life are usually the same people that don't know the price you paid to get where you are today. True friends see the full picture of your soul.” - Shannon Alder

22. “Ultimately one has to pity these poor souls who know every secret about writing, directing, designing, producing, and acting but are stuck in those miserable day jobs writing reviews. Will somebody help them, please?” - David Ives

23. “I have learned to read the papers calmly and not to hate the fools I read about.” - Edmund Wilson

24. “Genius feels like an over extended Helium balloon about to burst, and everyone criticizes you for not having a conventional way of coping with it.” - Solange nicole

25. “Anaemia is an illness primarily affecting characters in novels.” - Marchel Reich-Ranicki

26. “[A] writer’s most powerful weapon, his true strength, was his intuition, and regardless of whether he had any talent, if the critics combined to discredit an author’s nose for things, he would be reduced to a fearful creature who took a mistakenly guarded, absurdly cautious approach to his work, which would end up stifling his latent genius.” - Félix J. Palma

27. “The chronic kicker, even the most violent critic, will frequently soften and be subdued in the presence of a patient, sympathetic listener— a listener who will be silent while the irate fault-finder dilates like a king cobra and spews the poison out of his system.” - Dale Carnegie

28. “If you cannot judge a book by its cover, surely we should not judge an author by one book alone?” - E.A. Bucchianeri

29. “The problem of knowledge is that there are many more books on birds written by ornithologists than books on birds written by birds and books on ornithologists written by birds” - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

30. “Reviewers, with some rare exceptions, are a most stupid and malignant race.” - Percy Bysshe Shelley