--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Literary criticism, as I attempt to…" description: "\"“Literary criticism, as I attempt to practice it, is in the first place 'literary', which is to say personal and passionate. It is not philosophy, poli..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/harold-bloom-3350_art-of-life_literary-criticism-as-i-attempt-to-pract_775066.jpg" --- # Literary criticism, as I attempt to practice it, is in the… ![“Literary criticism, as I attempt to practice it, is in the first place 'literary', which is to say personal and passionate. It is not philosophy, politics, or institutionalised religion. At its strongest - Johnson, Hazlitt, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, and Paul Valéer, among others - it is a…” quote by Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/harold-bloom-3350_art-of-life_literary-criticism-as-i-attempt-to-pract_775066.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/harold-bloom-3350_art-of-life_literary-criticism-as-i-attempt-to-pract_775066.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/harold-bloom-3350_art-of-life_literary-criticism-as-i-attempt-to-pract_775066.jpg) > ““Literary criticism, as I attempt to practice it, is in the first place 'literary', which is to say personal and passionate. It is not philosophy, politics, or institutionalised religion. At its strongest - Johnson, Hazlitt, Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, and Paul Valéer, among others - it is a kind of wisdom literature, and so a meditation upon life. Yet any distinction between literature and life is misleading. Literature for me is not merely the best part of life; it is itself the form of life, which has no other form.”” [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. Literary criticism should be personal, passionate, and a meditation on life, not a detached academic discipline. **In simple terms:** Criticism is personal, life‑like. Key Takeaway Read and write with heart. Themes literature criticism philosophy Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - teaching - book clubs - creative writing - academic courses Key Concepts personal voice wisdom meditation Questions to Reflect On - How does your life inform your reading? - Can criticism be both personal and scholarly? A Different Perspective Over‑personalization may limit objective analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-of-life/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary/) [Literary criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-criticism/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature And Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-and-life-212996/) [Literature Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-life/) [Literature Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-meditation-5982982/) [Part of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/part-of-life/) ## Related quotes > [“Yet any distinction between literature and life is misleading. Literature for me is not merely the best part of life; it is itself the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/yet-any-distinction-between-literature-and-life-is-misleading/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“That was the chief difference between literature and life. In books, the proportion of exceptional to commonplace people is high; in reality, very low.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/that-was-the-chief-difference-between-literature-and-life-in-books/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [As for most writers, language is vital for me: a writer's ability to render a fictional world - characters, landscape, emotions - into something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinaw-mengestu/as-for-most-writers-language-is-vital-for-me-a-writer-s-ability-to/) [Dinaw Mengestu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinaw-mengestu/) > [Violence commands both literature and life, and violence is always crude and distorted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/violence-commands-both-literature-and-life-and-violence-is-always/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [I don't believe in pulling punches or being judicious, as the standard in literary criticism or academic musicology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-christgau/i-don-t-believe-in-pulling-punches-or-being-judicious-as-the-standard/) [Robert Christgau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-christgau/) > [Determining the value of individual texts has been an ideological scuffle in literary criticism for centuries: but the environmental cost of printing them hauls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristram-stuart/determining-the-value-of-individual-texts-has-been-an-ideological/) [Tristram Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristram-stuart/) > [In the old days of literature, only the very thick-skinned - or the very brilliant - dared enter the arena of literary criticism. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/in-the-old-days-of-literature-only-the-very-thick-skinned-or-the-very/) [Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/) > [I also encourage my students to read literary criticism that is deeply personal yet formally inventive and intellectually expansive... books that offer unorthodox ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-nixon/i-also-encourage-my-students-to-read-literary-criticism-that-is/) [Rob Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-nixon/) > [I still found literary criticism to be a suspect activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/i-still-found-literary-criticism-to-be-a-suspect-activity/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [After the last line of a poem, nothing follows except literary criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/after-the-last-line-of-a-poem-nothing-follows-except-literary/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [“The text contains no literary criticism. I wanted to describe books, not to be clever at their expense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-mcleish/the-text-contains-no-literary-criticism-i-wanted-to-describe-books/) [Kenneth McLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-mcleish/) > [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/) > [“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. 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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 Art of life quotes > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. 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