Isaac D'Israeli Quotes

I don't know what to say about literary critics. I think it's probably best to say nothing.

A critic is a reader who ruminates. Thus, he should have more than one stomach.

If people aren't creating literature, there would be nothing for people to criticize.

I guess the important thing for young writers is to read.

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

Let us consider the critic, therefore, as a discoverer of discoveries.

A literary critic is someone who can't write, but who loves to show he would have been a wonderful writer if only he could!

I like reading reviews. If they're clearly hating on you, I try not to read that deeply. But if they really are trying to understand, it's interesting.

We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.

A good novelist pays attention to his characters. A good biographer pays attention to the documents before her. A good critic pays close attention to the thing she's brought to evaluate.

We're not just writers; we're readers probably more than anything else. That's how you learn how to write and how you learn to appreciate good writing: by reading.

Criticism is a study by which men grow important and formidable at very small expense. The power of invention has been conferred by nature upon few, and the labour of learning those sciences which may, by mere labour, be obtained, is too great to be willingly endured; but every man can exert some judgment as he has upon the works of others; and he whom nature has made weak, and idleness keeps ignorant, may yet support his vanity by the name of critic.

It is easy to criticize an author, but difficult to appreciate him.

The practice of "reviewing"... in general has nothing in common with the art of criticism.

He taught me literature, and he actually taught me how to read. He was my personal mentor.

I'm not a writer. I like being a reader.

The critic should describe, and not prescribe.

Read a lot - poems, prose, stories, newspapers, anything. Read books and poems that you think you will like and some that you think might not be for you. You might be surprised.

The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write.

Critics should be looked at simply as commentators.

In the old days of literature, only the very thick-skinned - or the very brilliant - dared enter the arena of literary criticism. To criticise a person's work required equal measures of erudition and wit, and inferior critics were often the butt of satire and ridicule.

I believe that writing is derivative. I think good writing comes from good reading.

Read a lot. Read broadly... Tell stories to your friends, and pay attention to when they get bored... Write a lot.

I don't delve too deep into reviews.

You learn to write by reading, and my experiences and tastes as a reader are pretty wide.