“There are no more geniuses, only critics.”
"Those Who Complain about the Decline" (1923), in Style and Idea (1985), p. 203
1920s
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Arnold Schoenberg 20
Austrian-American composer 1874–1951Related quotes
"The Anonymity of the Regional Poet: Ted Kooser," from Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture (1992)
Essays
“I want no criticism of America at my table. The Americans criticize themselves more than enough.”
As cited in Churchill By Himself (2008), Ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs, p. 128 ISBN 1586486381
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Talk at an Enlarged Central Work Conference (30 January 1962)
1960s
Original: (zh-CN) 批评和自我批评是一种方法，是解决人民内部矛盾的方法，而且是唯一的方法。
“Time is the only critic without ambition.”
On Critics
Writers at Work (1977)
"On Freedom" in All Life is Problem Solving (1999)
Context: When I speak of reason or rationalism, all I mean is the conviction that we can learn through criticism of our mistakes and errors, especially through criticism by others, and eventually also through self-criticism. A rationalist is simply someone for whom it is more important to learn than to be proved right; someone who is willing to learn from others — not by simply taking over another's opinions, but by gladly allowing others to criticize his ideas and by gladly criticizing the ideas of others. The emphasis here is on the idea of criticism or, to be more precise, critical discussion. The genuine rationalist does not think that he or anyone else is in possession of the truth; nor does he think that mere criticism as such helps us achieve new ideas. But he does think that, in the sphere of ideas, only critical discussion can help us sort the wheat from the chaff. He is well aware that acceptance or rejection of an idea is never a purely rational matter; but he thinks that only critical discussion can give us the maturity to see an idea from more and more sides and to make a correct judgement of it.
" Generality in Artificial Intelligence http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/generality.html" (1971–1987), ACM Turing Award Lectures: The First Twenty Years, ACM Press, 1987, ISBN 0201077949
1980s
“Poetry can be criticized only through poetry.”
“Selected Aphorisms from the Lyceum (1797)”, Dialogue on Poetry and Literary Aphorisms, Ernst Behler and Roman Struc, trans. (Pennsylvania University Press:1968) #117
Context: Poetry can be criticized only through poetry. A critique which itself is not a work of art, either in content as representation of the necessary impression in the process of creation, or through its beautiful form and in its liberal tone in the spirit of the old Roman satire, has no right of citizenship in the realm of art.
"Quotes", Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1957), Polemical Introduction