O suffering, sad humanity! O ye afflicted ones, who lie Steeped to the lips in misery, Longing, yet afraid to die, Patient, though sorely tried!
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
Doubtless criticism was originally benignant, pointing out the beauties of a work rather that its defects. The passions of men have made it malignant, as a bad heart of Procreates turned the bed, the symbol of repose, into an instrument of torture.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Criticism began as a positive force to appreciate beauty, but has turned negative over time, highlighting flaws instead.
In this quote, Longfellow reflects on the nature of criticism, suggesting that it was initially intended to celebrate and point out the beauty in art. However, he observes that over time, human passions and negative intentions have transformed criticism into a tool for tearing down rather than building up, making it a source of pain instead of comfort.
Themes
CriticismBeautyArtNegativityPerception
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on art critiques, I would say, 'As Longfellow noted, criticism can often miss the beauty and focus on flaws.'
More from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
All quotes →There are moments in life, when the heart is so full of emotion That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like a pebble Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret, Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
To be seventy years old is like climbing the Alps. You reach a snow-crowned summit, and see behind you the deep valley stretching miles and miles away, and before you other summits higher and whiter, which you may have strength to climb, or may not. Then you sit down and meditate and wonder which it will be.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
God is not dead; nor doth He sleep; ... _x000D_ The wrong shall fail,_x000D_ The right prevail,_x000D_ With peace on earth, good will to men.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
In the long run men hit only what they aim at.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
Similar quotes
I really knew when I started photographing I wanted it to be a way of knowing different cultures, not just in other countries but in this country, too, and I knew I wanted to be a voyeur.
Mary Ellen MarkRead
You come in off the street, through the doors of the theater. You sit down. The lights go down and the curtain goes up. And you're in another world
Robert CaroRead
As human beings, we aren't as individual as we'd like to believe we are. And I think that's what makes acting possible. Despite the fact that I have not experienced something, I have it in my human capacity to imagine it and to put myself in someone else's shoes, and to take someone else's circumstances personally.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
Fashion is a language. Some know it, some learn it, some never will - like an instinct.
Edith HeadRead
The nervous system of any age or nation is its creative workers, its artists. And if that nervous system is profoundly disturbed by its environment, the work it produces will inescapably reflect the disturbances, sometimes obliquely and sometimes with violent directness.
Tennessee WilliamsRead
Writing is a process, a journey into memory and the soul.
Isabel AllendeRead