best quotations about
Criticism |
and Being Judgmental
| 89 quotes | Visits: 9,073 |
Quotations
 | Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 63 likes |
 | To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize. — Voltaire, 1694-1778, French philosopher & writer 60 likes |
 | If you would know who controls you, see who you may not criticise. — Tacitus, 55-120 AD, Roman historian 22 likes |
 | To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can't say good and encouraging things, say nothing. — Will Durant, 1885-1981, American historian & philosopher 15 likes |
 | You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose. — Lou Holtz, 1937-, American football coach 13 likes |
 | Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. — Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, Wife of the 32nd USA president 13 likes |
 | Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors. — Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961, American writer, Nobel 1954 12 likes |
 | Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you. — Zig Ziglar, 1926-2012, American self-help writer 11 likes |
 | Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good. — Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, English writer 10 likes |
 | It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. — Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, American President [1901-1909] 7 likes |
 | People hasten to judge in order not to be judged themselves. — Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French writer, Nobel 1957 7 likes |
 | A negative judgment gives you more satisfaction than praise, provided it smacks of jealousy. — Jean Baudrillard, 1929-2007, French intellectual 6 likes |
 | People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. — Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965, British writer 6 likes |
 | The good critic is one who tells of his mind’s adventures among masterpieces. — Anatole France, 1844-1924, French writer, Nobel 1921 6 likes |
 | Persons of delicate taste endure stupid criticism better than they do stupid praise. — Joseph Roux, 1834-1905, French clergyman & poet 5 likes |
 | One is either judge or accused. The judge sits, the accused stands. Live on your feet. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 5 likes |
| There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic. — Zig Ziglar, 1926-2012, American self-help writer 5 likes |
 | Young people need models, not critics. — John Wooden, 1910-2010, American basketball coach 5 likes |
 | I can take any amount of criticism, as long as it is unqualified praise. — Noel Coward, 1899-1973, British playwright 5 likes |
 | Once you label me you negate me. — Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Danish philosopher 5 likes |
 | Criticism is prejudice made plausible. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 5 likes |
| To sit home, read one's favorite paper, and scoff at the misdeeds of the men who do things is easy, but it is markedly ineffective. It is what evil men count upon the good men's doing. — Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, American President [1901-1909] 4 likes |
 | We judge others by their actions but we judge ourselves by our intensions. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1884, American philosopher 4 likes |
 | Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry. — Lord Chesterfield, 1694-1773, English statesman & writer 4 likes |
 | They will say you are on the wrong road, if it is your own. — Antonio Porchia, 1885-1968, Italian-Argentinian poet 4 likes |
| What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 4 likes |
 | Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing, and you'll never be criticized. — Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915, American writer 4 likes |
 | If I had listened to the critics I'd have died drunk in the gutter — Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer 4 likes |
 | The critic insults the author: this is called criticism. The author insults the critic: this is called insult. — Henry de Montherlant, 1895-1972, French writer 4 likes |
 | Above all, fear the judgment of those who judge you in the name of Him who said: “Judge not, that ye be not judged”. — Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist 4 likes |
 | When I hear a critic speaking of an author’s sincerity, I know that either the critic or the author is a fool. — Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer 4 likes |
| The folly which we might have ourselves committed is the one which we are least ready to pardon in another. — Joseph Roux, 1834-1905, French clergyman & poet 3 likes |
 | Every nation criticizes every other one — and they are all correct. — Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860, German philosopher 3 likes |
 | Don't pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches. — Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, American artist 3 likes |
 | Don't pay any attention to the critics - don't even ignore them. — Sam Goldwyn, 1879-1974, American film producer 3 likes |
| Some people find fault like there is a reward for it. — Zig Ziglar, 1926-2012, American self-help writer 3 likes |
| The only people who aren't going to be criticized are those who do absolutely nothing — Lou Holtz, 1937-, American football coach 3 likes |
 | We're not trying to entertain the critics … I'll take my chances with the public. — Walt Disney, 1901-1966, American businessman & cartoonist 3 likes |
 | Those who made the decisions with imperfect knowledge will be judged in hindsight by those with considerably more information at their disposal and time for reflection. — Donald Rumsfeld, American politician 3 likes |
| You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one. — John Wooden, 1910-2010, American basketball coach 3 likes |
 | You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good... Joan Crawford is dead. Good. — Bette Davis, 1908-1989, American actress 3 likes |
 | You complain, my friend, of the length of my epigrams, but you yourself write nothing. Yours are shorter. — Martial, 43-104 AD, Roman poet of epigrams 3 likes |
 | Criticism is a tax that envy perceives on merit. — Duc de Levis, 1764-1830, French politician & author of maxims 2 likes |
 | The critic should describe, and not prescribe. — Eugene Ionesco, 1912-1994, French-Romanian playwright 2 likes |
 | One can't judge Wagner's opera Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I certainly don't intend to hear it a second time. — Gioachino Rossini, 1792-1868, Italian music composer 2 likes |
 | Think before you speak is criticism's motto; speak before you think is creation's. — E. M. Forster, 1879-1970, British writer 2 likes |
 | To literary critics a book is assumed to be guilty until it proves itself innocent. — Nelson Algren, 1909-1981, American writer 2 likes |
 | Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots. — Frank A. Clark, 1911-1991, American cartoonist 1 likes |
 | Some people like what you do, some people hate what you do, but most people simply don’t give a damn. |
 | Animals are such agreeable friends ―they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. |
 | Children need role models rather than criticism. |
 | Of every ten persons who talk about you, nine will say something bad, and the tenth will say something good in a bad way. |
 | If you judge people, you have no time to love them. — Mother Teresa, 1910-1997, Albanian-Indian nun & missionary |
| Some critics are quite like those people who show ugly teeth every time they want to laugh. |
 | Time is the only critic without ambition. |
| Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the bastard. |
 | One becomes a critic when one cannot be an artist, just as a man becomes a stool pigeon when he cannot be a soldier. |
 | The pleasure of criticizing takes away from us the pleasure of being moved by some very fine things. |
 | Never answer a critic, unless he's right. — Bernard Baruch, 1870-1965, American businessman & statesman |
| Criticism and Bolshevism have one thing in common. They both seek to pull down that which they could never build. |
| If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much. |
 | In general, when reading a scholarly critic, one profits more from his quotations than from his comments. |
 | We are so scared of being judged that we look for every excuse to procrastinate. |
| I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged. |
 | It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone. |
 | Honest criticism is hard to take, especially from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger. |
 | Criticism is a sublime thing. It is worthy only of geniuses. |
 | Maybe I am shortsighted and a little deaf, like any self-respecting critic. |
 | No one is more judged in civilized society than the stand-up comedian. Every twelve seconds, you're rated. |
 | There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it. |
 | A man should be able to hear, and to bear, the worst that could be said of him. — Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976 |
| Excuse me ... but I reject your definitions of me. — Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976 |
 | 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. |
 | Some of the most vocal critics of the way things are being done are people who have done nothing themselves, and whose only contributions to society are their complaints and moral exhibitionism. |
Bible Quotes
 | Do not judge, or you too will be judged. — Gospel of Matthew ‐ 7:1 5 likes |
Latin Quotes
 | Let us be judged by our acts. Spectemur agendo. — Ovid, 43 BC-17 AD, Roman poet 82 likes |
 | The end crowns the work. Finis coronat opus. (i.e. a work can be judged only after it is finished or how is finished) 49 likes |
Funny Quotes
 | Critics are eunuchs at a gang bang. — George Burns, 1896-1996, American comedian 4 likes |
 | Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes. — Steve Martin, 1945-, American actor 4 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | It is a royal privilege to do good and be ill spoken of. Βασιλικόν, καλώς ποιούντα κακώς ακούειν. — Antisthenes, 445-360 BC, Ancient Greek Cynic philosopher (his comment when was told that Plato spoke badly about him) 12 likes |
 | Rather examine your own faults than those of the others. Κρέσσον τα οικήια ελέγχειν αμαρτήματα ή τα οθνεία. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 7 likes |
 | The beginning of friendship is praise and of animosity is criticism.
criticism. Φιλίας μεν αρχή έπαινος, έχθρας δε ψόγος. — Isokrates, 436-338 BC, Ancient Greek rhetorician 4 likes |
Proverbs
 | When all men say you are an ass, it is time to bray. 4 likes |
 | Never judge a book by its cover. 4 likes |
 | The dogs bark but the caravan moves on. 3 likes |
| Comparisons are not fair. Comparaison n'est pas raison. 2 likes |
 | Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins. — American Indian proverb ‐ Cheyenne 2 likes |
Special Quotes
 | Please Do Not Shoot The Pianist. He Is Doing His Best. — A notice over a saloon piano in Leadville, Colorado (reported by Oscar Wilde in 1882) 5 likes |
