“The taboos that I have mentioned are extraordinarily harsh and numerous. They stand around nearly every subject that is genuinely important to man: they hedge in free opinion and experimentation on all sides. Consider, for example, the matter of religion. It is debated freely and furiously in almost every country in the world save the United States, but here the critic is silenced. The result is that all religions are equally safeguarded against criticism, and that all of them lose vitality. We protect the status quo, and so make steady war upon revision and improvement.” MenWorldImportantWarCountryMatterStatesSidesLosesUnitedResultsOpinionUnited StatesAtheismSubjectsExampleProtectCriticismCriticsPositive AtheismImprovementSteadyHarshStatus QuoVitalityTabooExperimentationRevisionFree Opinion Author:H. L. Mencken
“In a moment when criticism shows a singular dearth of direction every man has to be a law unto himself in matters of theatre, writing, and painting. While the American Mercury and the new Ford continue to spread a thin varnish of Ritz over the whole United States there is a certain virtue in being unfashionable.” MenWritingArtMatterStatesWholeMomentsShowsLawArtistCertainUnitedUnited StatesVirtuePaintingCriticismIndependenceSpreadTheatreEvery ManMercuryRitz Book:John Dos Passos: the major nonfictional prose Source: John Dos Passos: the major nonfictional prose
“On the whole, yes, I would rather be the Chief Justice of the United States, and a quieter life than that which becomes at the White House is more in keeping with the temperament, but when taken into consideration that I go into history as President, and my children and my children's children are the better placed on account of that fact, I am inclined to think that to be President well compensates one for all the trials and criticisms he has to bear and undergo.” ThinkingWellsChildrenStatesWholeFactsHousePresidentJusticeWhiteUnitedUnited StatesTakenBearsCriticismAccountsTrialsChiefsMy ChildrenConsiderationWhite HouseTemperamentChief Justice Author:William Howard Taft
“This criticism is ridiculous. The twenty-five hundreth anniversary celebration cost me less than the inauguration of each new president of the United States.” StatesPresidentUnitedUnited StatesFiveCostCriticismTwentiesRidiculousCelebrationTwenty FiveInauguration Author:Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
“Over time I began to realize that the level of cinema criticism in the last part of XX century in the United States was pretty low. The institution itself is not what it's supposed to be, and I realized that I didn't need to take that seriously.” NeedsStatesLastsRealizingLevelsUnitedUnited StatesCenturyLowsCriticismInstitutionsI RealizedSupposed To BeCinema Author:George Lucas
“A mood of constructive criticism being upon me, I propose forthwith that the method of choosing legislators now prevailing in the United States be abandoned and that the method used in choosing juries be substituted. That is to say, I propose that the men who make our laws be chosen by chance and against will of all the rest of us, as now.” MenStatesLawUsedChanceUnitedUnited StatesHe ManCriticismMethodMoodChosenAbandonedConstructiveProposeJuryLegislatorsPrevailingConstructive Criticism Author:H. L. Mencken
“Surely the United States Senate is big enough to take self-criticism and self-appraisal. Surely we should be able to take the same kind of character attacks that we "dish out" to outsiders.” ShouldKindSelfStatesEnoughCharacterBigsAbleUnitedUnited StatesCriticismSenateOutsidersDishesSelf CriticismAppraisal Author:Margaret Chase Smith