A man must serve his time to every trade
Save censure--critics all are ready made.
Take hackney'd read more

A man must serve his time to every trade
Save censure--critics all are ready made.
Take hackney'd jokes from Miller, got by rote,
With just enough of learning to misquote;
A mind well skill'd to find or forge a fault;
A turn for punning, call it Attic salt;
To Jeffrey go, be silent and discreet,
His pay is just ten sterling pounds per sheet;
Fear not to lie, 'twill seem a lucky hit;
Shrink not from blasphemy, 'twill pass for wit;
Care not for feeling--pass your proper jest,
And stand a critic, hated yet caress'd.

It is much easier to be critical that to be correct.

It is much easier to be critical that to be correct.

Philosophers, as things now stand, are all too fond of offering criticism from on high instead of studying and understanding read more

Philosophers, as things now stand, are all too fond of offering criticism from on high instead of studying and understanding things from within.

You know who critics are?--the men who have failed in literature
and art.

You know who critics are?--the men who have failed in literature
and art.

Those who do not read criticism will rarely merit to be
criticised.

Those who do not read criticism will rarely merit to be
criticised.

Criticism is easy, and art is difficult.
[Fr., La critique est aisee, et l'art est difficile.]

Criticism is easy, and art is difficult.
[Fr., La critique est aisee, et l'art est difficile.]

Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well.

Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well.

When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, read more

When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass!

The rule in carving holds good as to criticism; never cut with a knife what you can cut with a read more

The rule in carving holds good as to criticism; never cut with a knife what you can cut with a spoon.