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Brigid Brophy

Brigid Brophy Quotes

Novelist

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Famous Brigid Brophy Quotes

“When sonneteering Wordsworth re-creates the landing of Mary Queen of Scots at the mouth of the Derwent - Dear to the Loves, and to the Graces vowed, The Queen drew back the wimple that she wore - he unveils nothing less than a canvas by Rubens, baroque master of baroque masters; this is the landing of a TRAGIC Marie de Medicis. Yet so receptive was the English ear to sheep-Wordsworth's perverse 'Enough of Art' that it is not any of these works of supreme art, these master-sonnets of English literature, that are sold as picture postcards, with the text in lieu of the view, in the Lake District! it is those eternally, infernally sprightly Daffodils.”

CriticismDeepClassicsWordsworthHalf Witted Sheep
Book:Fifty Works of English Literature We Could Do Without
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“I don't hold animals superior or even equal to humans. The whole case for behaving decently to animals rests on the fact that we are the superior species. We are the species uniquely capable of imagination, rationality, and moral choice - and that is precisely why we are under an obligation to recognize and respect the rights of animals.”

HumansWholeFactsChoicesImaginationAnimalCompassionMoralCasesRightsEqualCapableSpeciesObligationSuperiorsVegetarianVeganAnimal RightsRationalityVeganismVegetarian HealthHuman AnimalHumans And AnimalsEating AnimalsMoral Choices
Book:Don't Ever Forget: Collected Views and Reviews
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“The popular distinction between 'constructive' and 'destructive' criticism is a sentimentality: the mind too weak to perceive in what respects the bad fails is not strong enough to appreciate in what the good succeeds. To be without discrimination is to be unable to praise. The critic who lets you know that he always looks for something to like in works he discusses is not telling you anything about the works or about art; he is saying 'see what a nice person I am.”

KnowsMindLooksPersonsArtEnoughStrongNiceFailingSucceedAppreciateCriticismWeakPraiseCriticsDiscriminationPerceiveDistinctionDestructiveStrong EnoughConstructiveSentimentalityNot StrongNice PersonNot Strong EnoughDestructive Criticism
Author:Brigid Brophy
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“In a sense, the first (if not necessarily the prime) function of a novelist, of ANY artist, is to entertain. If the poem, painting, play or novel does not immediately engage one's surface interest then it has failed. Whatever else it may or may not be, art is also entertainment. Bad art fails to entertain. Good art does something in addition.”

IfsFirstsMayDoeArtPlayArtistInterestNovelFailingPaintingArt IsFunctionEntertainmentSurfaceNovelistsPrimeGood Art
Author:Brigid Brophy
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“The person who kills for fun is announcing that, could he get away with it, he'd kill you for fun. Your...life may be of no consequence to anyone else but is invaluable to you because it's the only one you've got. Exactly the same is true of each individual deer, hare, rabbit, fox, fish, pheasant and butterfly. Humans should enjoy their own lives, not taking others'.”

ShouldHumansMayPersonsIndividualFunEnjoyConsequenceFishesGet AwayVegetarianButterflyFoxesRabbitsDeerInvaluableHaresAnnouncingPheasants
Author:Brigid Brophy
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“To argue that we humans are capable of complex multifarious thought and feeling, whereas the sheep's perception is probably limited by lowly sheepish perceptions, is no more to the point than if I were to slaughter and eat you on the grounds that I am a sophisticated personality able to enjoy Mozart, formal logic and cannibalism, whereas your imaginative world seems confined to True Romances and tinned spaghetti.”

IfsWorldHumansFeelingsSeemsAbleRomanceEnjoyAnimalPersonalityPerceptionCapableLogicComplexesArguingAnimal RightsSheepSophisticatedFormalImaginativeConfinedSlaughterThoughts And FeelingsSpaghettiCannibalismTrue Romance
Author:Brigid Brophy
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