--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In certain kinds of writing, particularly…" description: "\"In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/george-orwell-57_art_in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly_2308382.jpg" --- # In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism… ![“In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/george-orwell-57_art_in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly_2308382.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/george-orwell-57_art_in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly_2308382.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/george-orwell-57_art_in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly_2308382.jpg) > “In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## 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 write dense passages that lack clear meaning, obscuring insight. **In simple terms:** Meaningless criticism confuses readers. Key Takeaway Seek clarity and purpose in analysis. Themes criticism clarity communication literature art Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - book reviews - academic essays - media analysis Key Concepts semantic opacity intellectual honesty reader engagement Questions to Reflect On - Why do writers favor obscurity over clarity? - How can criticism be both insightful and accessible? A Different Perspective Complex language may alienate audiences and hinder understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Literary criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-criticism/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Most modern literary criticism is literary and nothing else—that is, it concentrates on an author's style and thinks it rather vulgar to notice his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/most-modern-literary-criticism-is-literary-and-nothing-else-that-is/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [ Certainly professionally, yes \[I was interested more in history\]. And literary criticism, the structure of poetry. But it is primarily as a historian that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-moore-cross/certainly-professionally-yes-i-was-interested-more-in-history-and/) [Frank Moore Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-moore-cross/) > [As a historian, I love every little detail, but whole long passages about wood paneling and journeys on horseback and every stop at every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-harkness/as-a-historian-i-love-every-little-detail-but-whole-long-passages/) [Deborah Harkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-harkness/) > [I don't want my readers slowed down by long passages of narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/i-don-t-want-my-readers-slowed-down-by-long-passages-of-narrative/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [“At that shameful stage in the development of our criticism, literary abuse would overstep all limits of decorum; literature itself was a totally extraneous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-odoevsky/at-that-shameful-stage-in-the-development-of-our-criticism-literary/) [Vladimir Odoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-odoevsky/) > [There are so many different kinds of writing and so many ways to work that the only rule is this: do what works. Almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophy-burnham/there-are-so-many-different-kinds-of-writing-and-so-many-ways-to-work/) [Sophy Burnham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophy-burnham/) > [Writing must be a machine for breaking down, that is, allowing the now uncontrolled and uncontrollable reconstitutions of thoughts and expressions. All other kinds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/writing-must-be-a-machine-for-breaking-down-that-is-allowing-the-now/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [there are - as every one knows - two kinds of writing: one coming out of your vitals and the other from the top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-buckrose/there-are-as-every-one-knows-two-kinds-of-writing-one-coming-out-of/) [J. E. Buckrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-buckrose/) > [I think a blog is a catalyst for a number of possible kinds of writing besides being its own medium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-think-a-blog-is-a-catalyst-for-a-number-of-possible-kinds-of/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [...there are two kinds of writing: the one you write and the one that writes you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/there-are-two-kinds-of-writing-the-one-you-write-and-the-one-that/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [I don’t think ‘science fiction’ is a very good name for it, but it’s the name that we’ve got. It is different from other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-don-t-think-science-fiction-is-a-very-good-name-for-it-but-it-s-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [I suppose in the long run, it's the good work that outlasts the shoddy work, but there's enough room for all kinds of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-suppose-in-the-long-run-it-s-the-good-work-that-outlasts-the-shoddy/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [Literature is one of the few kinds of writing in the world that does not tell you what to buy, want, see, be, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/literature-is-one-of-the-few-kinds-of-writing-in-the-world-that-does/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It took me a long time to realise that there are two kinds of writing: the one you write and the one that writes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-took-me-a-long-time-to-realise-that-there-are-two-kinds-of-writing/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“There are two kinds of writing; the one you write and the one that writes you. The one that writes you is dangerous. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/there-are-two-kinds-of-writing-the-one-you-write-and-the-one-that-2/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Orwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly-in-art-criticism-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly-in-art-criticism-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/george-orwell-57_art_in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly_2308382.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/george-orwell-57_art_in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly_2308382.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8c/george-orwell-57_art_in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly_2308382.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come…” — George Orwell", "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": "George Orwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In certain kinds of writing, particularly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly-in-art-criticism-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-certain-kinds-of-writing-particularly-in-art-criticism-and/#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 } } ] } ```