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Reader Quotes

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Reader Quotes

“Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well; the chiefest part of which is to observe those excellencies which delight a reasonable reader.”

Firsts Wells Judging Reader Standards Criticism Delight Reasonable

Book:The Works of John Dryden, Volume XII: Plays Ambboyna, The State of Innocence, Aureng-Zebe

Source: The Works of John Dryden, Volume XII: Plays Ambboyna, The State of Innocence, Aureng-Zebe

“It is quite too common a practice, both in readers and the more superficial class of critics, to judge a book by what it is not, a matter much easier to determine than what it is.”

Book Matter Common Class Practice Judging Reader Easier Critics Determine Superficial

Book:The North American Review

Source: The North American Review

“There are three classes of readers; some enjoy without judgment; others judge without enjoyment; and some there are who judge while they enjoy, and enjoy while they judge. The latter class reproduces the work of art on which it is engaged. Its numbers are very small.”

Art Three Reading Enjoy Numbers Class Judging Reader Judgment Engaged Enjoyment Latter Works Of Art

Book:Goethe's Opinions on the World, Mankind, Literature, Science, and Art

Source: Goethe's Opinions on the World, Mankind, Literature, Science, and Art

“It is easier for the reader to judge, by a thousand times, than for the writer to invent. The writer must summon his Idea out of nowhere, and his characters out of nothing, and catch words as they fly, and nail them to the page. The reader has something to go by and somewhere to start from, given to him freely and with great generosity by the writer. And still the reader feels free to find fault.”

Feels Stills Book Ideas Character Reading Given Judging Reader Easier Thousand Pages Faults Generosity Nails Book Reading

Author:Fay Weldon

“Especially on Broadway, composers and lyricists fretted over their creations, obsessed over every rhyme, every critical chord or interval. The stakes were so high. On Broadway, people were watching and judging, especially newspaper critics who knew a thousand ways to slice and dice a songwriter for the entertainment of hundreds of thousands of faithful readers. There was no anonymity for the Broadway songwriter. Even the best could find themselves stripped naked the morning after by the tastemakers and their readers.”

“As I see it, my job as a writer isn't to judge, but to take a reader as far inside as I can and let them dwell there.”

I Can Jobs Judging Reader

Author:Adam Haslett

“My interest is always to get as deeply as I can into the minds and spirits of the characters and let the readers empathize or judge as they will.”

Mind I Can Character Spirit Interest Judging Reader

Author:Adam Haslett

“Nobody likes to be found out, not even one who has made ruthless confession a part of his profession. Any autobiographer, therefore, at least between the lines, spars with his reader and potential judge.”

Made Found Lines Judging Reader Profession Likes Confession Ruthless Between The Lines

Book:Life History and the Historical Moment: Diverse Presentations

Source: Life History and the Historical Moment: Diverse Presentations

“I would also hope that readers receive a larger understanding, or a different understanding, of what it means to be human, than they might have had before. We suffer from being quick to judge, quick to make excuses for ourselves and others, and I would like the reader to feel that we are all, more or less, in a similar state as we love and disappoint one another, and that we try, most of us, as best we can, and that to fail and succeed is what we do.”

Feels Trying Humans Mean Different States Might Suffering Understanding Failing Judging Reader Succeed Excuse Disappoint What It Means To Be Human Quick To Judge

Author:Elizabeth Strout

“I'd like to think that what my style of writing is, is an attempt not so much to judge the characters that I'm writing about, to expose them, to label them, to stereotype them, but instead to make them come alive for the reader with all their strengths and their flaws intact.”

Thinking Writing Character Alive Style Judging Reader Labels Flaws Stereotype

Author:Doris Kearns Goodwin

“But an experienced reader is also a self-aware and critical reader. I can't remember ever reading a story without judging it.”

I Can Self Stories Remember Reading Judging Reader Critical

Author:Hilary Mantel