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

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

Too nicely Jonson knew the critic's part,
Nature in him was almost lost in art.

Too nicely Jonson knew the critic's part,
Nature in him was almost lost in art.

Reviewers are usually people who would have been poets,
historians, biographers, etc., if they could: they have tried
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Reviewers are usually people who would have been poets,
historians, biographers, etc., if they could: they have tried
their talents at one or the other, and have failed; therefore
they turn critics.

He was in Logic, a great critic,
Profoundly skill'd in Analytic;
He could distinguish, and divide
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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 criticize by creation--not by finding fault.

I criticize by creation--not by finding fault.

Blame is safer than praise.

Blame is safer than praise.

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.

Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

They who write ill, and they who ne'er durst write,
Turn critics out of mere revenge and spite.

They who write ill, and they who ne'er durst write,
Turn critics out of mere revenge and spite.