“Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger.” MenLooksActionFightingPoorDangerHe ManOughtBattleCriticismFunctionStressMereCriticsDeedsSubstitutesIndispensableUsefulnessSubordinatesDoers Author:Theodore Roosevelt
“Too often critics seem more intent on seeking new ways to alter Congress than to truly learn how it functions. They might well profit from the advice of Thomas Huxley, who said a century ago: Sit down before facts as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notionor you shall learn nothing.” WayGivingWellsChildrenLittlesSaidFactsSeemsMightAdviceCenturyGiving UpFunctionPreparedCriticsCongressProfitSeekingNew WaysBe PreparedHuxleyPreconceived Notions Book:Selected speeches Source: Selected speeches
“If the function of the artist is to see, the first duty of the critic is to understand what the artist saw.” IfsFirstsArtistSawsDutyFunctionCritics Author:J. E. H. MacDonald
“Never trust the artist. Trust the tale. The proper function of the critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it.” ArtistLiteratureFunctionCriticsTalesNever Trust Author:D. H. Lawrence
“The aim of all commentary on art now should be to make works of art - and, by analogy, our own experience - more, rather than less, real to us. The function of criticism should be to show how it is what it is, even that it is what it is, rather than to show what it means.” ShouldMeanArtRealShowsCriticismFunctionAimCriticsWorks Of ArtCommentaryAnalogiesIt Is What It Is Book:A Susan Sontag reader Source: A Susan Sontag reader
“Toni Morrison said, "The function of freedom is to free someone else," and if you are no longer wracked or in bondage to a person or a way of life, tell your story. Risk freeing someone else. Not everyone will be glad that you did. Members of your family and other critics may wish you had kept your secrets. Oh, well, what are you going to do?” IfsWayWellsMayPersonsSaidStoriesWishSecretRiskMembersFunctionCriticsGladBondageWish YouOh Well Author:Anne Lamott
“The master of ceremonies asked people to say what they thought the function of the novel might be in modern society, and one critic said, “To provide touches of color in rooms with all-white walls.” Another one said, “To describe blow-jobs artistically.” PeopleSaidMightJobsWhiteRoomsNovelModernColorMastersWallFunctionCriticsBlowCeremonyModern SocietyBlow JobMaster CeremonyWhite Walls Book:SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE Source: SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE
“The artist usually sets out -- or used to -- to point a moral and adorn a tale. The tale, however, points the other way, as a rule. Two blankly opposing morals, the artist's and the tale's. Never trust the artist. Trust the tale. The proper functions of a critic is to save the tale from the artist who created it.” WayTwoUsedArtistMoralFunctionCriticsTalesOpposingNever Trust Author:D. H. Lawrence
“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” HumansMayStatesBodyPainGrowthLeadershipAttentionCriticismFunctionPraiseCriticsFlatteryHuman BodyUnhealthyConstructive CriticismCriticism And PraiseAgreeableness Author:Winston Churchill