Criticism Quotes - Page 32

• Since separation precludes financial support or special privilege from government, the churches are free to engage in prophetic criticism of the government and to work for social justice.

  John M Swomley

  Government, Justice, Support

  John M. Swomley (1987). “Religious liberty and the secular state: the constitutional context”

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• I look at my work and make up my mind about it. After that, neither flattery nor criticism matters to me.

  Georgia O'Keeffe

  Writing, Mind, Looks

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• The curious hocus-pocus of criticism I can't take seriously. It consists in squirreling up some odd phrases and then waiting for a book to come running by.

  John Steinbeck

  Running, Book, Writing

  John Steinbeck (1995). “The Long Valley”, p.7, Penguin

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• An author places himself uncalled before the tribunal of criticism and solicits fame at the hazard of disgrace.

  Samuel Johnson

  Writing, Hazards, Fame

  Samuel Johnson (1810). “The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper: Broome, Pope, Pitt, Thomson”, p.114

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• This is all you have to do. Sit down once a day to the novel and start working without internal criticism, without debilitating expectations, without the need to look at your words as if they were already printed and bound. The beginning is only a draft. Drafts are imperfect by definition.

  Walter Mosley

  Writing, Expectations, Needs

  Walter Mosley (2009). “This Year You Write Your Novel”, p.31, Hachette UK

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• Euphemisms are not, as many young people think, useless verbiage for that which can and should be said bluntly; they are like secret agents on a delicate mission, they must airily pass by a stinking mess with barely so much as a nod of the head, make their point of constructive criticism and continue on in calm forbearance. Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne.

  Quentin Crisp

  Thinking, People, Secret

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• The real connoisseurs in art are those who make people accept as beautiful something everybody used to consider ugly, by revealing and resuscitating the beauty in it.

  Jules de Goncourt

  Beautiful, Art, Real

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• If a man is devout, we accuse him of hypocrisy; if he is not, of impiety; if he is humble, we look on his humility as a weakness; if he is generous, we call his courage pride.

  Louis Bourdaloue

  Humble, Humility, Pride

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• Criticism is part of being in the marketplace. If you can't take a bit of criticism, you shouldn't bother publishing a book.

  Tibor Fischer

  Book, Bother, Publishing

  "Better than Amis?" by Stephanie Merritt, www.theguardian.com. August 31, 2003.

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• First, if you love the Kindle and it works for you, it isn't problematic, and you should ignore all my criticisms and read the way you want to read.

  Nicholson Baker

  Want, Way, Firsts

  "Ask The Author Live: Nicholson Baker On The Kindle". Q&As, www.newyorker.com. July 24, 2009.

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• Poetry criticism at its worst today is mean in spirit and spiteful in intent, as if determined to inflict the wound that will spur the artist to new heights if it does not cripple him or her.

  David Lehman

  Mean, Artist, Spurs

  David Lehman (2015). “The State of the Art: A Chronicle of American Poetry, 1988-2014”, p.162, University of Pittsburgh Press

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• Farber had a huge effect on me as a writer. I don't mean I write like him. Farber is, first of all, a great stylist, a great writer. Anyone can read Manny Farber's film criticism, whether that person is a novelist, a poet, another critic, a historian, and learn a lot about writing by reading him.

  Greil Marcus

  Reading, Writing, Mean

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• In this age of consumerism film criticism all over the world - in America first but also in Europe - has become something that caters for the movie industry instead of being a counterbalance.

  Wim Wenders

  Europe, America, Age

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• My mom is an actress, but she never really pushed me into it, and it was never something I thought I would be doing. She was very happy I decided to, but she certainly doesn't offer me criticism because she knows I'd tell her to shut up! Nobody wants to hear that from their mum!

  Morena Baccarin

  Mom, Would Be, Want

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• It's often the case that successful people invite criticism.

  Michael Gove

  Successful, People, Cases

  "Michael Gove: Rupert Murdoch is an 'impressive and significant figure'" by John Plunkett, www.theguardian.com. May 29, 2012.

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• I'm always very careful to make the distinction between music criticism and music journalism. A lot of people don't. But criticism doesn't require reporting. You can write criticism at home in your underwear. On the other hand, journalism takes legwork - you have to get out there and see things and talk to people.

  Michael Azerrad

  Home, Writing, Hands

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• I read stories aloud at every stage. I listen to my writer friends when they kindly offer criticism. I listen to my husband when he tells me something doesn't seem right. I have my mother's boyfriend, Loring Janes, read to make sure I get everything right with the machines and guns.

  Bonnie Jo Campbell

  Mother, Husband, Gun

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• After I started getting criticism for doing 'Big Brother,' someone told me that Hugh Downs used to host 'Concentration' and Mike Wallace used to do 'The Big Surprise.' I thought, Huh, maybe that door isn't sealed shut if I want to do '60 Minutes' one day.

  Julie Chen

  Brother, Doors, One Day

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• For some reason if we hear 100 praises and one criticism, we focus on that one hurtful thing.

  Carmen Electra

  Focus, Hurtful, Praise

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• If someone's criticism is completely unfounded on data, then I don't want to hear it. It doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

  Tim Ferriss

  Data, Want, Scrutiny

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• I don't judge people. I don't even judge people on 'The Voice.' I'm a coach. I'm there for constructive criticism and to aid and abet and discover new talent.

  Cee Lo Green

  Voice, Judging, People

  "Cee Lo Green Is Fking Outrageous". Interview with Eric Spitznagel, www.esquire.com. February 5, 2012.

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• Ascetics and fakirs come to mitigate human suffering; to heal us and lead us on the path. They put up with criticism; they go through many worldly trials. Some of them have even become martyrs for our sake. But they have done all this with a smile and with gratitude to God. Hence sacrifice is a great virtue.

  Dada Vaswani

  Gratitude, Sacrifice, Suffering

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• What offends me the most when I hear criticisms about this so-called Africa bias is how quick we are to focus on the words and propaganda of a few powerful, influential individuals, and to forget about the millions of anonymous people who suffer from their crimes.

  Fatou Bensouda

  Powerful, People, Focus

  "Fatou Bensouda: “We Are Not Against Africa”". Interview with Mercy Eze, newafricanmagazine.com. September 11, 2012.

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• A system such as classical mechanics may be 'scientific' to any degree you like; but those who uphold it dogmatically - believing, perhaps, that it is their business to defend such a successful system against criticism as long as it is not conclusively disproved - are adopting the very reverse of that critical attitude which in my view is the proper one for the scientist.

  Karl Popper

  Attitude, Believe, Successful

  Karl Popper (2005). “The Logic of Scientific Discovery”, p.28, Routledge

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• The critics love to get out their knives and dine on Coverdale. But the worse the criticism gets, the more successful I become.

  David Coverdale

  Successful, Knives, Dine

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