---
title: "1 Criticism Ultimately Quotes By Gary Giddins"
description: "1 Criticism Ultimately quotes by Gary Giddins. Plus more from Gary Giddins and more Criticism Ultimately sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/gary-giddins-25694_being-wrong_criticism-ultimately-at-some-degree-is-a_2421722.jpg"
---

> [Criticism ultimately at some degree is about the writer and not the subject. It's very easy if everybody else says, "He's a genius," to echo that, but then you're not functioning as a critic or as a writer in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/criticism-ultimately-at-some-degree-is-about-the-writer-and-not-the/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17d/gary-giddins-25694_being-wrong_criticism-ultimately-at-some-degree-is-a_2421722.jpg)

## More by Gary Giddins

> [Even my colleagues don't read classic criticism. And my feeling is that if you don't do that then you're not really practicing your craft.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/even-my-colleagues-don-t-read-classic-criticism-and-my-feeling-is/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [I'm a critic. That means you are a writer. So, yes, you have to make yourself an authority on whatever subject it's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/i-m-a-critic-that-means-you-are-a-writer-so-yes-you-have-to-make/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [You're writing for some version of yourself. You're writing the kinds of things that you like to read or wanted to read at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/you-re-writing-for-some-version-of-yourself-you-re-writing-the-kinds/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [One of the things I always underscore when I teach criticism is that young critics, or would be critics, frequently have this illusion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/one-of-the-things-i-always-underscore-when-i-teach-criticism-is-that/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Writing style is something is a consequence of who you are. I think that I had a certain propensity for a style that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/writing-style-is-something-is-a-consequence-of-who-you-are-i-think/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [I think all of us begin as writers. I wanted to be a writer from the time I as eight, long before I heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/i-think-all-of-us-begin-as-writers-i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-from-the/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Humility is a very important trait in a critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/humility-is-a-very-important-trait-in-a-critic/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [People should not feel intimidated by received wisdom. You have to discover it yourself. If I tell you that Armstrong is great, it's meaningless;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/people-should-not-feel-intimidated-by-received-wisdom-you-have-to/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [I hate the idea of turning jazz into homework assignments. I would never have a quiz saying, "Who's the clarinetist on the Hot Five?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/i-hate-the-idea-of-turning-jazz-into-homework-assignments-i-would/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Jazz is for joy. It's for euphoria, it's for emotion, and anguish, and excitement, and all of the joys that great art can produce,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-for-emotion-and-anguish-and/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Bing Crosby said that Armstrong is "the beginning and the end of music in America," and he wasn't far wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/bing-crosby-said-that-armstrong-is-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-music/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Nobody knows where jazz is going, because nobody has ever known where jazz was going. I mean, you couldn't possibly predict the Swing Era…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/nobody-knows-where-jazz-is-going-because-nobody-has-ever-known-where/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [When I teach criticism, the first thing I say, and this sometimes pisses off younger - I mean, students, is that, opinions are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/when-i-teach-criticism-the-first-thing-i-say-and-this-sometimes/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [If you're genuinely candid and expressive then you're never wrong, even when you are wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/if-you-re-genuinely-candid-and-expressive-then-you-re-never-wrong/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [You've got to have a gimmick if your band sucks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/you-ve-got-to-have-a-gimmick-if-your-band-sucks/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

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