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Brendan Gill

Brendan Gill Quotes

Critic

Brendan Gill, born on October 4, 1914, and died on December 27, 1997, was a renowned literary critic and editor. His contributions to the literary world were primarily in the field of literary criticism and editorial work, particularly for The New Yorker magazine, where he was known for his editorial work.

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Famous Brendan Gill Quotes

“In the later nineteenth century, the tops of skyscrapers often took the shape of domes, surmounted by jaunty gilded lanterns; later came ziggurats, mausoleums, Alexandrian lighthouses, miniature Parthenons. These charming follies contained neither royal corpses nor effigies of gods and goddesses; rather they contained large wooden tanks filled with water.”

Water Century Shapes Filled Folly Goddess Charming Royal Corpses Tanks Nineteenth Century Lighthouse Miniatures Skyscraper Domes Lanterns Gilded Gods And Goddesses Mausoleum Parthenon

Author:Brendan Gill

“Avain attempt to subdue that unsubduable country.”

Author:Brendan Gill

“The guns of the big events rumble through our pages, but the tiny firecrackers are constantly hissing and popping there as well; it appears that much of my life as a journalist has been devoted to sedulously setting off firecrackers.”

Wells Has Beens Bigs Events Pages Gun Tiny Setting Settings Journalist Devoted Popping Rumble Big Events Hissing Firecracker

Book:Here at the New Yorker

Source: Here at the New Yorker

“We must all face the fact that in a single lifetime we lead several simultaneous lives; our intention should be to make them reinforce one another instead of colliding.”

Should Facts Faces Intention Lifetime Single Life Simultaneous

Author:Brendan Gill

“Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.”

“Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run.”

Long War Matter Bigs Running Inspirational Life Election Long Runs

Author:Brendan Gill

“Parody is homage gone sour.”

Gone Sour Homage Parody

Book:HER AT THE NEW YORKER

Source: HER AT THE NEW YORKER

“Obscenity is a notable enhancer of life and is suppressed at grave peril to the arts.”

Art Graves Peril Notable Obscenity

Author:Brendan Gill

“I will try to cram these paragraphs full of facts and give them a weight and shape no greater than that of a cloud of blue butterflies.”

Giving Trying Facts Eye Greater Shapes Weight Blue Clouds Butterfly Paragraph Blue Eyes

Book:HER AT THE NEW YORKER

Source: HER AT THE NEW YORKER

“The ingenuities we practice in order to appear admirable to ourselves would suffice to invent the telephone twice over on a rainy summer morning.”

Order Practice Morning Summer Admiration Telephones Admirable Ingenuity Rainy

Book:HER AT THE NEW YORKER

Source: HER AT THE NEW YORKER

“To die quickly in one's eighth decade at the very top of one's powers is an enviable end, and not an occasion for mourning.”

Ends Death Dies Decades Occasions Mourning

Book:HER AT THE NEW YORKER

Source: HER AT THE NEW YORKER

“It is in the nature of the New Yorker to be as topical as possible, on a level that is often small in scale and playful in intention.”

Levels Intention Scales New Yorkers

Book:HER AT THE NEW YORKER

Source: HER AT THE NEW YORKER

About the Author

Born: October 4, 1914
Died: December 27, 1997
Known for: Critic
Quotes: 12

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HER AT THE NEW YORKERRelated source material

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