Criticism Quote by George Saintsbury
“Criticism is the endeavour to find, to know, to love, to recommend, not only the best, but all the good, that has been known and thought and written in the world.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Literary Criticism, 1905
Criticism seeks to uncover and appreciate all valuable works, not just the finest.
In simple terms: Criticism is about finding and valuing many good things.
Key Takeaway
Seek breadth as well as depth in evaluation.
Themes
evaluation
appreciation
literature
culture
knowledge
Mood
analytical
thoughtful
Type
academic
literary
When to use this quote
- reading
- teaching
- curating collections
- academic research
Key Concepts
Aesthetics
critical theory
canon formation
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance depth and breadth in criticism?
- What criteria help you recognize overlooked works?
A Different Perspective
Focusing only on the best can ignore diverse contributions.
![“[…] there exists around the written world opened by the work a multitude of other possible worlds, which we can complete by means of our images and our words. Denying oneself this work of completion in the name of some hypothetical fidelity to the work is bound to fail: we can indeed reject…” quote by Pierre Bayard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/20a/pierre-bayard-29513_fiction_there-exists-around-the-written-world-op_160551.jpg)
