Quotes on Criticism

A woman's flattery may inflate a man's head a little; but her criticism goes straight to his heart, and contracts it so that it can never again hold quite as much love for her.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the president... is morally treasonable to the American public.

Success comes from curiosity, concentration, perseverance and self criticism.

All criticism is a form of autobiography

Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them.

People have pointed out evidences of personal feeling in my notices as if they were accusing me of a misdemeanor, not knowing that criticism written without personal feeling is not worth reading. It is the capacity for making good or bad art a personal matter that makes a man a critic.

Children learn what they live._x000D_ _x000D_ If a child lives with criticism... he learns to condemn._x000D_ _x000D_ If he lives with hostility... he learns to fight._x000D_ _x000D_ If he lives with ridicule... he learns to be shy._x000D_ _x000D_ If he lives with shame... he learns to be guilty._x000D_ _x000D_ If he lives with tolerance... he learns confidence._x000D_ _x000D_ If he lives with praise... he learns to appreciate._x000D_ _x000D_ If he lives with fairness... he learns about justice

Sandwich every bit of criticism between two heavy layers of praise.

Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.

I consider criticism merely a preliminary excitement, a statement of things a writer has to clear up in his own head sometime or other, probably antecedent to writing; of no value unless it come to fruit in the created work later.

Fools admire, but men of sense approve.

Composing for the prepared piano is not a criticism of the instrument. I'm only being practical.

‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.

If we could only make our hands move as actively as our tongues, what wonders we could accomplish! Almost everyone loves to hear his own voice. It is so easy, too! Yet if we could say less and do more for each other's good, not alone would every home be happier, but communities would be enriched thereby. Instead of criticism by speech, to show someone a better way to do a thing would be of much greater value.

Anyone who tries to improve the lives of animals invariably comes in for criticism from those who believe such efforts are misplaced in a world of suffering humanity.

A life without criticism is not worth living.

A society needs famous people; the question is whom it chooses for that role. Any criticism of its choice is by implication a criticism of that society.

When you receive criticism from well-meaning people, it pays to ask, ‘Are they right?’ And if they are, you need to adapt what they’re doing. If they’re not right, if you really have conviction that they’re not right, you need to have that long-term willingness to be misunderstood. It’s a key part of invention.

If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent.

Thus, the weight of my criticism is directed against the inadequacy of the theoretical foundations of the laissez-faire doctrine upon which I was brought up and for many years I taught

Criticism is, for me, like essay writing, a wonderful way of relaxation; it doesn't require a heightened and mediated voice, like prose fiction, but rather a calm, rational, even conversational voice.