--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I demand that my books be judged with…" description: "\"I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and of logic, and who will seek beneath th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/louis-aragon-11961_books_i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-ut_1601340.jpg" --- # I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by… ![“I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and of logic, and who will seek beneath the footsteps of my commas the lice of my thought in the head of my style.” quote by Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/louis-aragon-11961_books_i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-ut_1601340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/louis-aragon-11961_books_i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-ut_1601340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/louis-aragon-11961_books_i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-ut_1601340.jpg) > “I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and of logic, and who will seek beneath the footsteps of my commas the lice of my thought in the head of my style.” [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author demands rigorous, scholarly critique of his work, emphasizing the need for deep, logical analysis of language and style. **In simple terms:** Demand strict, knowledgeable critique of writing. Key Takeaway Invite thorough, expert feedback. Themes literature critique grammar logic Mood analytical serious Type literary critical When to use this quote - academic publishing - writing workshops - self‑editing - peer review Key Concepts critical theory stylistic analysis Questions to Reflect On - How to give constructive criticism? - What standards define “utmost severity”? A Different Perspective Strict critique can be discouraging if not balanced with encouragement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Grammar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grammar/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) ## Related quotes > [I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-utmost-severity-by-knowledgeable/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [Associating with the wise and the knowledgeable people adds to the prestige of a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-ibn-abi-talib/associating-with-the-wise-and-the-knowledgeable-people-adds-to-the/) [Ali ibn Abi Talib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-ibn-abi-talib/) > [Honest people, knowledgeable people, really well-informed people can have very different views about what the right measures are on national security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-turnbull/honest-people-knowledgeable-people-really-well-informed-people-can/) [Malcolm Turnbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-turnbull/) > [There's no such thing as knowledge management; there are only knowledgeable people. Information only becomes knowledge in the hands of someone who knows what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/there-s-no-such-thing-as-knowledge-management-there-are-only/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [“Not everyone who talks less or keeps quiet whenever they are with or around you does that because they find you interesting or knowledgeable;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/not-everyone-who-talks-less-or-keeps-quiet-whenever-they-are-with-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [I would give Obama a "C." He gets an "A" for understanding this country's profound problems in education, health care, infrastructure, and economic competitiveness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/i-would-give-obama-a-c-he-gets-an-a-for-understanding-this-country-s/) [Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/) > [Our books will bear witness for or against us, our books reflect who we are and who we have been, our books hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/our-books-will-bear-witness-for-or-against-us-our-books-reflect-who/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“If books were judged by the bad uses man can put them to, what book has been more misused than the Bible?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/if-books-were-judged-by-the-bad-uses-man-can-put-them-to-what-book/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [All books are judged by their covers until they are read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryrose-wood/all-books-are-judged-by-their-covers-until-they-are-read/) [Maryrose Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryrose-wood/) > [“The best way to make great decisions is to know how to triangulate with other, more knowledgeable people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-dalio/the-best-way-to-make-great-decisions-is-to-know-how-to-triangulate/) [Ray Dalio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-dalio/) > [Knowledgeable people are found everywhere, but we are cruelly short of wise people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-quoist/knowledgeable-people-are-found-everywhere-but-we-are-cruelly-short-of/) [Michel Quoist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-quoist/) > [According to a Public Policy Polling survey, most Americans find lice and colonoscopies more appealing than Capitol Hill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/according-to-a-public-policy-polling-survey-most-americans-find-lice/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [“Indeed, to spur your Baal to action, I will taunt and challenge you ... to create as much as a single frog in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/indeed-to-spur-your-baal-to-action-i-will-taunt-and-challenge-you-to/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-very-first-thing-i-tell-my-new-students-on-the-first-day-of-a/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [A 'modern' man has nothing to add to modernism, if only because he has nothing to oppose it with. The well-adapted drop off the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-canetti/a-modern-man-has-nothing-to-add-to-modernism-if-only-because-he-has/) [Elias Canetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-canetti/) ## More by Louis Aragon > [ As \[John Heartfield\] was playing with the fire of appearance, reality took fire around him... The scraps of photographs that he formerly manoeuvred for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/as-john-heartfield-was-playing-with-the-fire-of-appearance-reality/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [As if one could do what one wanted with one's own body!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/as-if-one-could-do-what-one-wanted-with-one-s-own-body/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [Your imagination, my dear fellow, is worth more than you imagine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/your-imagination-my-dear-fellow-is-worth-more-than-you-imagine/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [Geniuses are like ocean liners: they should never meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/geniuses-are-like-ocean-liners-they-should-never-meet/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [There are strange flowers of reason to match each error of the senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/there-are-strange-flowers-of-reason-to-match-each-error-of-the-senses/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [Reality is the apparent absence of contradiction. The marvelous is the eruption of contradiction within the real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/reality-is-the-apparent-absence-of-contradiction-the-marvelous-is-the/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [No more painters, no more scribblers, no more musicians, no more sculptors, no more religions, no more royalists, no more radicals, no more imperialists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/no-more-painters-no-more-scribblers-no-more-musicians-no-more/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [O months of blossoming, months of transfigurations, May without cloud and June stabbed to the heart, I shall not ever forget the lilacs or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/o-months-of-blossoming-months-of-transfigurations-may-without-cloud/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [The authors of book reviews would consider themselves dishonored were they to mention, as they should, the subject of the book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/the-authors-of-book-reviews-would-consider-themselves-dishonored-were/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [I shall always rebel against any attempt to reduce a human being to a kind of mannequin, whose deeds and questions would be comprehensible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-shall-always-rebel-against-any-attempt-to-reduce-a-human-being-to-a/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-utmost-severity-by-knowledgeable/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [We know that the nature of genius is to provide idiots with ideas twenty years later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/we-know-that-the-nature-of-genius-is-to-provide-idiots-with-ideas/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [Error is certainty's constant companion. Error is the corollary of evidence. And anything said about truth may equally well be said about error: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/error-is-certainty-s-constant-companion-error-is-the-corollary-of/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [Most people have never known solitude… But there are a few of the other kind who can go back to their rooms anywhere and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/most-people-have-never-known-solitude-but-there-are-a-few-of-the/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [I must confess that I and a few others are burdened with heavy responsibilities regarding the future of criticism. I am certainly, if not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-must-confess-that-i-and-a-few-others-are-burdened-with-heavy/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) [Explore all 46 Louis Aragon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and of logic, and who will seek beneath the footsteps of my commas the lice of my thought in the head of my style.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Louis Aragon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-utmost-severity-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-utmost-severity-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/louis-aragon-11961_books_i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-ut_1601340.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/louis-aragon-11961_books_i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-ut_1601340.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9c/louis-aragon-11961_books_i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-ut_1601340.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar…” — Louis Aragon", "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": "Louis Aragon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I demand that my books be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-utmost-severity-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/i-demand-that-my-books-be-judged-with-utmost-severity-by/#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 } } ] } ```