--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Criticism must think of itself as…" description: "\"“Criticism must think of itself as life-enhancing and constitutively opposed to every form of tyranny, domination, and abuse; its social goals are non-..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/edward-w-said-17556_freedom_criticism-must-think-of-itself-as-life-e_987975.jpg" --- # Criticism must think of itself as life-enhancing and… ![“Criticism must think of itself as life-enhancing and constitutively opposed to every form of tyranny, domination, and abuse; its social goals are non-coercive knowledge produced in the interests of human freedom.” quote by Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/edward-w-said-17556_freedom_criticism-must-think-of-itself-as-life-e_987975.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/edward-w-said-17556_freedom_criticism-must-think-of-itself-as-life-e_987975.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a4/edward-w-said-17556_freedom_criticism-must-think-of-itself-as-life-e_987975.jpg) > ““Criticism must think of itself as life-enhancing and constitutively opposed to every form of tyranny, domination, and abuse; its social goals are non-coercive knowledge produced in the interests of human freedom.”” [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Criticism should empower freedom, opposing oppression and seeking knowledge without coercion. **In simple terms:** Criticism empowers freedom, opposes oppression. Key Takeaway Critique to promote liberty and truth. Themes freedom oppression knowledge Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - academic discourse - media analysis - activism Key Concepts ethics political theory Questions to Reflect On - How can criticism stay truly free? - When does critique become domination? A Different Perspective Criticism can be co‑opted by power structures, losing its liberating aim. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Human freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-freedom/) ## Related quotes > [I take criticism so seriously as to believe that, even in the midst of a battle in which one is unmistakably on one side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-take-criticism-so-seriously-as-to-believe-that-even-in-the-midst-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think, with any new product that's difficult to understand, there are always lots of questions and criticism. I think we have all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-spiegel/i-think-with-any-new-product-that-s-difficult-to-understand-there-are/) [Evan Spiegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-spiegel/) > [I don't have a very high opinion, actually, of the world of criticism - or the practice of criticism. I think I admire art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/i-don-t-have-a-very-high-opinion-actually-of-the-world-of-criticism/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Some professionals say you need to have a praise-to-criticism ratio of 3:1, 5:1, or even 7:1. Others advocate the “feedback sandwich”—opening and closing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-malone-scott/some-professionals-say-you-need-to-have-a-praise-to-criticism-ratio/) [Kim Malone Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-malone-scott/) > [I stand by it. I take the criticism for it. I think it's unfair, but yes, there is a thing about nepotism, and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/i-stand-by-it-i-take-the-criticism-for-it-i-think-it-s-unfair-but-yes/) [Ellen Johnson Sirleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/) > [Nobody likes criticism but I think in my career, for the most part, I've taken it reasonably well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-o-neill/nobody-likes-criticism-but-i-think-in-my-career-for-the-most-part-i/) [Martin O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-o-neill/) > [If you really look at my lyrics, nobody's exempt. Nobody's exempt from observation, criticism or what I think is correction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-cube/if-you-really-look-at-my-lyrics-nobody-s-exempt-nobody-s-exempt-from/) [Ice Cube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-cube/) > [I don't think there's any evidence to support that kind of criticism. I think that what we have attempted to do is to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-deukmejian/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-evidence-to-support-that-kind-of-criticism/) [George Deukmejian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-deukmejian/) > [When I was a young woman, I had this friend who was really beautiful, and she would talk about how she was losing her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-hamby/when-i-was-a-young-woman-i-had-this-friend-who-was-really-beautiful/) [Barbara Hamby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-hamby/) > [Many receive a criticism and think it is fine; think they got their money's worth; think well of the teacher for it, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/many-receive-a-criticism-and-think-it-is-fine-think-they-got-their/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“The criticism that I think is more telling is that the only way you are going to knock out this terrorism eventually is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-niebuhr/the-criticism-that-i-think-is-more-telling-is-that-the-only-way-you/) [Gustav Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustav-niebuhr/) > [I think the biggest hole is in criticism. I think there should be more informed criticism. Part of the problem is that in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-horyn/i-think-the-biggest-hole-is-in-criticism-i-think-there-should-be-more/) Cathy Horyn > [I appreciate good criticism and I think it's really important. I don't like it when it's consumer advocacy, like how you should spend your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rapp/i-appreciate-good-criticism-and-i-think-it-s-really-important-i-don-t/) [Adam Rapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rapp/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) ## More by Edward W. Said > [“Modern Orientalism embodies a systematic discipline of accumulation. Far from this being exclusively an intellectual or theoretical feature, it made Orientalism tend fatally towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/modern-orientalism-embodies-a-systematic-discipline-of-accumulation/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Not one of our political spokespeople—the same is true of the Arabs since Abdel Nasser’s time—ever speaks with self-respect and dignity of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/not-one-of-our-political-spokespeople-the-same-is-true-of-the-arabs/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“It remains the professional Orientalist's job to piece together a portrait, a restored picture as it were, of the Orient or the Oriental; fragments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/it-remains-the-professional-orientalist-s-job-to-piece-together-a/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Intellectual representations are the activity itself, dependent on a kind of consciousness that is skeptical, engaged, unremittingly devote to rational investigation and moral judgement;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/intellectual-representations-are-the-activity-itself-dependent-on-a/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Out of this unstable mix of technocracy and national security you have a nostalgia developing for colonialism or religion—atavistic in my opinion, but some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/out-of-this-unstable-mix-of-technocracy-and-national-security-you/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Every writer on the Orient (and this is true even of Homer) assumes some Oriental precedent, some previous knowledge of the Orient, to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/every-writer-on-the-orient-and-this-is-true-even-of-homer-assumes/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Music requires a particular type of education which is simply not given to most people. And, as a result, it’s set further apart. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/music-requires-a-particular-type-of-education-which-is-simply-not/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“No one today is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman, or Muslim, or American are not more than starting-points, which if followed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/no-one-today-is-purely-one-thing-labels-like-indian-or-woman-or/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“They weren't like us and for that reason deserved to be ruled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/they-weren-t-like-us-and-for-that-reason-deserved-to-be-ruled/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Liberation as an intellectual mission, born in the resistance and opposition to the confinements and ravages of imperialism, has now shifted from the settled,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/liberation-as-an-intellectual-mission-born-in-the-resistance-and/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“The Orient is watched, since its almost (but never quite) offensive behavior issues out of a reservoir of infinite peculiarity; the European, whose sensibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/the-orient-is-watched-since-its-almost-but-never-quite-offensive/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“There has been no major revolution in modern history without intellectuals; conversely there has been no major counterrevolutionary movement without intellectuals. Intellectuals have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/there-has-been-no-major-revolution-in-modern-history-without/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Texts are not finished objects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/texts-are-not-finished-objects/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Orientalism is after all a system for citing works and authors . \_\_ Orientalism”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/orientalism-is-after-all-a-system-for-citing-works-and-authors/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/every-empire-however-tells-itself-and-the-world-that-it-is-unlike-all/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) [Explore all 22 Edward W. Said quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) ## More Criticism quotes > [Regardless of the criticisms I receive from the left, the right and the middle, I think it's important to maintain a prolific writing jab,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-reed/regardless-of-the-criticisms-i-receive-from-the-left-the-right-and/) [Ishmael Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-reed/) > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/a-common-fallacy-in-much-of-the-adverse-criticism-to-which-science-is/) [Cyril Norman Hinshelwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-norman-hinshelwood/) > [For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geneen-roth/for-some-reason-we-are-truly-convinced-that-if-we-criticize-ourselves/) [Geneen Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geneen-roth/) > [I reject criticism because the last thing I wanted was to sit there and look at people talking. I think people are conditioned to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-tyrnauer/i-reject-criticism-because-the-last-thing-i-wanted-was-to-sit-there/) [Matt Tyrnauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-tyrnauer/) > [I'm more comfortable modelling as a man because I don't get any criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rain-dove/i-m-more-comfortable-modelling-as-a-man-because-i-don-t-get-any/) [Rain Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rain-dove/) > [I don't mind positive criticism, but when it is negative and personal, it is quite hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/inzamam-ul-haq/i-don-t-mind-positive-criticism-but-when-it-is-negative-and-personal/) [Inzamam-ul-Haq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/inzamam-ul-haq/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Everything is allowable in literature, but what is not allowable in criticism is objection on the grounds of probability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/everything-is-allowable-in-literature-but-what-is-not-allowable-in/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [Lots of relationships fail because we spend more time pointing out each other's mistakes and not enough time enjoying each other's company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lots-of-relationships-fail-because-we-spend-more-time-pointing-out/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [People believe that criticism should be objective, whatever that means, but I really don't understand what people mean by that. I guess if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-christgau/people-believe-that-criticism-should-be-objective-whatever-that-means/) [Robert Christgau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-christgau/) > [I welcome criticism. I come from a - I wouldn't say mean, but you've got to have tough skin to be in my family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saweetie/i-welcome-criticism-i-come-from-a-i-wouldn-t-say-mean-but-you-ve-got/) [Saweetie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saweetie/) > [The good author is he who contemplates without marked joy or excessive sorrow the adventures of his soul amongst criticisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-good-author-is-he-who-contemplates-without-marked-joy-or/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) [Browse all 3,954 Criticism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Criticism must think of itself as life-enhancing and constitutively opposed to every form of tyranny, domination, and abuse; its social goals are non-coercive knowledge produced in the interests of human freedom.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward W. 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