"Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world—though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst—the cant of criticism is the most tormenting."

"For, poems read without a name, We justly praise, or justly blame; And critics have no partial views, Except they know whom they abuse. And since you ne'er provoke their spite, Depend upon't their judgment's right."

"For since he would sit on a Prophet's seat, As a lord of the Human soul, We needs must scan him from head to feet, Were it but for a wart or a mole."

"Critics are like brushers of noblemen's clothes."

"Why will you be always sallying out to break lances with other people's wind-mills, when your own is not capable of grinding corn for the horse you ride?"

"Grant me patience, just Heaven! Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world — though the cant of hypocrites may be the worst — the cant of criticism is the most tormenting."

"An over-readiness to criticise or to depreciate a minister of Christ is proof of a lack of devotion to Christ."

"All who (like him) have writ ill plays before, For they, like thieves, condemned, are hangmen made, To execute the members of their trade."

"We should never let support blind us, or become a substitute for continuing to be both self-critical, and dedicated to our goals. We should not be dissuaded by our critics, but we should be able to honestly ask ourselves if there is anything to learn from them. Hopefully, the fact that sympathizers and critics are taking notice means that we are actually doing something."

"Whatever else he may do, a critic reveals and criticises himself."

"CRITIC, n. A person who boasts himself hard to please because nobody tries to please him."

"Great art is a religious function...great criticism is, therefore—since it is necessary for great art—a religious function. Even when you're saying something negative, it might be in the service of the Lord"

"In all of history, we have found just one cure for error—a partial antidote against making and repeating grand, foolish mistakes, a remedy against self-deception. That antidote is criticism."

"He was in Logic, a great critic, Profoundly skill'd in Analytic; He could distinguish, and divide A hair 'twixt south and south-west side."

"I am not a critic; to me criticism is so often nothing more than the eye garrulously denouncing the shape of the peephole that gives access to hidden treasure."

"Criticism, whatever may be its pretensions, never does more than to define the impression which is made upon it at a certain moment by a work wherein the writer himself noted the impression of the world which he received at a certain hour."

"I love criticism as long as it is unqualified praise."

"Those who are esteemed umpires of taste are often persons who have acquired some knowledge of admired pictures or sculptures, and have an inclination for whatever is elegant; but if you inquire whether they are beautiful souls, and whether their own acts are like fair pictures, you learn that they are selfish and sensual."

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one... just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."

"To study Buddhism and then use it as a weapon in order to criticize others' theories or ideologies is wrong. The very purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticize others. Rather, we must criticize ourselves. How much am I doing about my anger? About my attachment, about my hatred, about my pride, my jealousy? These are the things which we must check in daily life with the knowledge of the Buddhist teachings."

"Parodies and caricatures are the most penetrating of criticisms."

"Critics should never socialize with artists; it’s difficult enough to like their work in the first place."

"“Ah, ‘The Suffering Critic.’ A work to gladden the heart of any artist.”"

"We must grant the artist his subject, his idea, his donné: our criticism is applied only to what he makes of it."

"'Tis not the wholesome sharp morality, Or modest anger of a satiric spirit, That hurts or wounds the body of a state, But the sinister application Of the malicious, ignorant, and base Interpreter; who will distort and strain The general scope and purpose of an author To his particular and private spleen."

"One would think that an unsuccessful volume was like a degree in the school of reviewing. One unread work makes the judge bitter enough ; but a second failure, and he is quite desperate in his damnation. I do believe one half of the injustice — the severity of 'the ungentle craft' originates in its own want of success ; they cannot forgive the popularity which has passed them over."

"Critics are sentinels in the grand army of letters, stationed at the corners of newspapers and reviews, to challenge every new author."

"Many critics are like woodpeckers, who, instead of enjoying the fruit and shadow of a tree, hop incessantly around the trunk, pecking holes in the bark to discover some little worm or other."