--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For more than half a century I have tried…" description: "\"“For more than half a century I have tried to confront greatness directly, hardly a fashionable stance, but I see no other justification for literary c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/harold-bloom-3350_criticism_for-more-than-half-a-century-i-have-trie_1092027.png" --- # For more than half a century I have tried to confront… ![“For more than half a century I have tried to confront greatness directly, hardly a fashionable stance, but I see no other justification for literary criticism in the shadows of our Evening Land. Over time the strong poets settle these matters for themselves, and precursors remain alive in their…” quote by Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/harold-bloom-3350_criticism_for-more-than-half-a-century-i-have-trie_1092027.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/harold-bloom-3350_criticism_for-more-than-half-a-century-i-have-trie_1092027.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/harold-bloom-3350_criticism_for-more-than-half-a-century-i-have-trie_1092027.png) > ““For more than half a century I have tried to confront greatness directly, hardly a fashionable stance, but I see no other justification for literary criticism in the shadows of our Evening Land. Over time the strong poets settle these matters for themselves, and precursors remain alive in their progeny. Readers in our flooded landscape use their own perceptiveness. But an advance can be of some help. If you believe that the canon in time will select itself, you still can follow a critical impulse to hasten the process, as I did with the later Stevens, Ashbury, and, more recently, Henri Cole.”” [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bloom argues that critics should actively shape literary can rather than wait for it to emerge naturally. **In simple terms:** Critics must guide which works become classics. Key Takeaway Engage critically to influence cultural memory. Themes literary criticism canon formation cultural memory authorial legacy Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - University literature courses - book clubs - publishing decisions - academic conferences Key Concepts Aesthetic judgment historical influence critical agency Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide which works deserve preservation? - What risks arise from a critic’s personal bias? A Different Perspective Active shaping may marginalize unconventional voices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Criticism Shadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism-shadows-2829361/) [Justification Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justification-literary-2829359/) [Literary criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-criticism/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Strong Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-poets-2829360/) ## Related quotes > [“Why is the integrity of the literary canon everywhere articulated in terms of its imagined integration to a nation-state as well as a racialized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lloyd/why-is-the-integrity-of-the-literary-canon-everywhere-articulated-in/) [David Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lloyd/) > [“The seasonal urge is strong in poets. Milton wrote chiefly in winter. Keats looked for spring to wake him up (as it did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-bevington/the-seasonal-urge-is-strong-in-poets-milton-wrote-chiefly-in-winter/) [Helen Bevington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bevington/) > [“School of Resentment is a term coined by critic Harold Bloom to describe related schools of literary criticism which have gained prominence in academia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/school-of-resentment-is-a-term-coined-by-critic-harold-bloom-to/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“I define influence simply as literary love, tempered by defense. The defenses vary from poet to poet. But the overwhelming presence of love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/i-define-influence-simply-as-literary-love-tempered-by-defense-the/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“Consciousness is the materia poetica that Shakespeare sculpts as Michelangelo sculpts marble. We feel the consciousness of Hamlet or Iago, and our own consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/consciousness-is-the-materia-poetica-that-shakespeare-sculpts-as/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“Literary criticism, as I attempt to practice it, is in the first place 'literary', which is to say personal and passionate. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/literary-criticism-as-i-attempt-to-practice-it-is-in-the-first-place/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [The techniques are all means of dealing with one simple idea: She wrote it. (That is, the "wrong" person--in this case, female--has created the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-russ/the-techniques-are-all-means-of-dealing-with-one-simple-idea-she/) [Joanna Russ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-russ/) > [With a few exceptions, the critics of children's books are remarkably lenient souls… Most of us assume there is something goodin every child; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-sergeant-angell-white/with-a-few-exceptions-the-critics-of-children-s-books-are-remarkably/) [Katharine Sergeant Angell White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-sergeant-angell-white/) > [When I first started writing in my early 20s it was literary criticism for a very eccentric magazine called Books And Bookmen, which allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-meades/when-i-first-started-writing-in-my-early-20s-it-was-literary/) [Jonathan Meades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-meades/) > [What I teach is literary criticism and comparative literature and so on and that's my function, but from time to time it's possible for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/what-i-teach-is-literary-criticism-and-comparative-literature-and-so/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [People have been predicting the death of philosophy since the 17th century. When I was a student, people were saying, 'We're in the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-williams/people-have-been-predicting-the-death-of-philosophy-since-the-17th/) [Bernard Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-williams/) > [“Each work of criticism is supposed to build on the body of work, to increase the total sum of human understanding. It's not like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/each-work-of-criticism-is-supposed-to-build-on-the-body-of-work-to/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [“Literary criticism is not your forte, my dear fellow. Don't try it. You should leave that to people who haven't been at a University.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/literary-criticism-is-not-your-forte-my-dear-fellow-don-t-try-it-you/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Criticism even should not be without its charms. When quite devoid of all amenities, it is no longer literary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/criticism-even-should-not-be-without-its-charms-when-quite-devoid-of/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) > [Historical investigation and literary criticism have taken the magic out of the Bible and have made it a composite human book, written by many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/historical-investigation-and-literary-criticism-have-taken-the-magic/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) ## More by Harold Bloom > [I realized early on that the academy and the literary world alike - and I don't think there really is a distinction between the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/i-realized-early-on-that-the-academy-and-the-literary-world-alike-and/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [I would say that there is no future for literary studies as such in the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/i-would-say-that-there-is-no-future-for-literary-studies-as-such-in/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“Brecht was a cynical bohemian bogey of the middle classes, but also much more than a mere provocateur. He developed and dramatized his political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/brecht-was-a-cynical-bohemian-bogey-of-the-middle-classes-but-also/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [The morality of scholarship, as currently practiced, is to encourage everyone to replace difficult pleasures by pleasures universally accessible precisely because they are easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/the-morality-of-scholarship-as-currently-practiced-is-to-encourage/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. If we are a democracy, what are we to make of the palpable elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/dark-influences-from-the-american-past-congregate-among-us-still-if/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“We read frequently if unknowingly, in quest of a mind more original than our own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/we-read-frequently-if-unknowingly-in-quest-of-a-mind-more-original/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“You can read merely to pass the time, or you can read with an overt urgency, but eventually you will read against the clock.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/you-can-read-merely-to-pass-the-time-or-you-can-read-with-an-overt/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [In the finest critics one hears the full cry of the human. They tell one why it matters to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/in-the-finest-critics-one-hears-the-full-cry-of-the-human-they-tell/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [The idea of Herman Melville in a writing class is always distressing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/the-idea-of-herman-melville-in-a-writing-class-is-always-distressing/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [If I were to sum up the negative reactions to my work, I think there are two primary causes: one is that if there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/if-i-were-to-sum-up-the-negative-reactions-to-my-work-i-think-there/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [Aesthetic value emanates from the struggle between texts: in the reader, in language, in the classroom, in arguments within a society. Aesthetic value rises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/aesthetic-value-emanates-from-the-struggle-between-texts-in-the/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [Shakespeare will not make us better, and he will not make us worse, but he may teach us how to overhear ourselves when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/shakespeare-will-not-make-us-better-and-he-will-not-make-us-worse-but/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [Criticism starts - it has to start - with a real passion for reading. It can come in adolescence, even in your twenties, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/criticism-starts-it-has-to-start-with-a-real-passion-for-reading-it/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“No one has yet managed to be post-Shakespearean.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/no-one-has-yet-managed-to-be-post-shakespearean/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [What is supposed to be the very essence of Judaism - which is the notion that it is by study that you make yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/what-is-supposed-to-be-the-very-essence-of-judaism-which-is-the/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) [Explore all 127 Harold Bloom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) ## 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": "“For more than half a century I have tried to confront greatness directly, hardly a fashionable stance, but I see no other justification for literary criticism in the shadows of our Evening Land. 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