--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing…" description: "\"A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.\" — Christopher Morley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/christopher-morley-2772_critics_a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossin_115378.png" --- # A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly… ![“A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.” quote by Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/christopher-morley-2772_critics_a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossin_115378.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/christopher-morley-2772_critics_a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossin_115378.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/christopher-morley-2772_critics_a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossin_115378.png) > “A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.” [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critics often shout loudly but are ignored by the inevitable progress they try to halt. **In simple terms:** Critics are noisy but ineffective against moving forward. Key Takeaway Noise does not stop momentum. Themes criticism progress inevitability communication Mood wry reflective Type aphorism metaphor When to use this quote - public debates - product reviews - political protests Key Concepts perception vs reality impact of dissent Practical Applications - focus on constructive feedback - ignore baseless noise Questions to Reflect On - When does criticism become valuable? - How can we differentiate noise from useful feedback? A Different Perspective Some criticism can improve outcomes when it offers actionable insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Railroads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railroads/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Train](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train/) ## Related quotes > [“a cacophony of clanging and yelling—poverty’s soundtrack.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/a-cacophony-of-clanging-and-yelling-poverty-s-soundtrack/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [Young Doctor Arden was gong through the process of reorienting himself after a night's sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roberts-rinehart/young-doctor-arden-was-gong-through-the-process-of-reorienting/) [Mary Roberts Rinehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roberts-rinehart/) > [He wasn’t a carrier of commitment-phobia or other notable boy diseases and he used expensive moisturizer. That’s about all it takes to bang my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diablo-cody/he-wasn-t-a-carrier-of-commitment-phobia-or-other-notable-boy/) [Diablo Cody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diablo-cody/) > [Without trust, words become the hollow sound of a wooden gong. With trust, words become life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-harold/without-trust-words-become-the-hollow-sound-of-a-wooden-gong-with/) John Harold > [I love the sound of the distant bugle call in the countryside in early morning I love to be pushed in busy crowds I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-qing/i-love-the-sound-of-the-distant-bugle-call-in-the-countryside-in/) Ai Qing > [I love Death Race, it's one of my favorite films. I thought, "You know what? All that two years worth of work is now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-w-s-anderson/i-love-death-race-it-s-one-of-my-favorite-films-i-thought-you-know/) [Paul W. S. 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A book is 'good' only when it meets some human hunger or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/between-ourselves-there-is-no-such-thing-abstractly-as-a-good-book-a/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/all-cities-are-mad-but-the-madness-is-gallant-all-cities-are/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [People like to imagine that because all our mechanical equipment moves so much faster, that we are thinking faster, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/people-like-to-imagine-that-because-all-our-mechanical-equipment/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [“There are three ingredients in the good life: learning, earning, and yearning. 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I'm going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/there-s-a-lot-of-stuff-i-want-to-do-just-things-that-i-want-to/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) > [Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/whatever-course-you-decide-upon-there-is-always-someone-to-tell-you/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. 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They think movies started from books and they forgot this part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-tautou/a-certain-type-of-critic-doesn-t-really-want-french-movies-to-be/) [Audrey Tautou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-tautou/) Browse all 2,637 Critics quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christopher Morley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossing-clanging-loudly-and-vainly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Critics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossing-clanging-loudly-and-vainly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/christopher-morley-2772_critics_a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossin_115378.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/christopher-morley-2772_critics_a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossin_115378.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76c/christopher-morley-2772_critics_a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossin_115378.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.” — Christopher Morley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christopher Morley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A critic is a gong at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossing-clanging-loudly-and-vainly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossing-clanging-loudly-and-vainly/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```