--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I must confess that I and a few others…" description: "\"I must confess that I and a few others are burdened with heavy responsibilities regarding the future of criticism. I am certainly, if not the inventor,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3e/louis-aragon-11961_abstract_i-must-confess-that-i-and-a-few-others-a_997569.jpg" --- # I must confess that I and a few others are burdened with… ![“I must confess that I and a few others are burdened with heavy responsibilities regarding the future of criticism. I am certainly, if not the inventor, then at least one of the first systematizers of an absurd critical practice that, as soon as it had peeked its beak out of the nest, flapping its…” quote by Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3e/louis-aragon-11961_abstract_i-must-confess-that-i-and-a-few-others-a_997569.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3e/louis-aragon-11961_abstract_i-must-confess-that-i-and-a-few-others-a_997569.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f3e/louis-aragon-11961_abstract_i-must-confess-that-i-and-a-few-others-a_997569.jpg) > “I must confess that I and a few others are burdened with heavy responsibilities regarding the future of criticism. I am certainly, if not the inventor, then at least one of the first systematizers of an absurd critical practice that, as soon as it had peeked its beak out of the nest, flapping its new wet wings, took flight in the minds of the young, becoming a wild ox and sowing avant-garde literature with the mighty tomes of what might as well be called the abstract bear.” [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 claims responsibility for pioneering a chaotic, avant‑garde criticism that spreads wildly among youth, likening it to a wild ox and a bear of abstract ideas. **In simple terms:** He sees himself as an early systematizer of a disruptive literary movement. Key Takeaway Recognize the impact of early theoretical frameworks on modern criticism. Themes literary theory avant‑garde responsibility influence Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - university seminars - creative writing workshops - literary criticism circles - publishing houses Key Concepts systematization absurdity cultural diffusion Questions to Reflect On - How does early theory shape contemporary literary analysis? - What responsibilities do theorists have to clarity? A Different Perspective Such radical criticism can alienate readers and obscure meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Avant garde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avant-garde/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Criticism certainly doesn't affect my life, and whatever the pundits have called me, I'm sure they have been called a lot worse in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hart/criticism-certainly-doesn-t-affect-my-life-and-whatever-the-pundits/) [Joe Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hart/) > [I can't control the criticism. It's something you certainly don't appreciate, but by the same token, everybody is entitled to their opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-shula/i-can-t-control-the-criticism-it-s-something-you-certainly-don-t/) [Don Shula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-shula/) > [“For those who relish speculation regarding the future, the tale of supernatural horror provides an interesting field.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft-2/for-those-who-relish-speculation-regarding-the-future-the-tale-of/) [H.P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft-2/) > [You cannot import anything from outside your country regarding the future of your country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/you-cannot-import-anything-from-outside-your-country-regarding-the/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [Questions regarding the future of India are not for me to decide. I am not a citizen of India or an Indian politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/questions-regarding-the-future-of-india-are-not-for-me-to-decide-i-am/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [The idea that positive illusions are in the service of sef-esteem virtually requires that they stay in check. If one develops substantially unrealistic expectations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-e-taylor/the-idea-that-positive-illusions-are-in-the-service-of-sef-esteem/) Shelley E. Taylor > [“The unhinged jaw of a nepatrox mouth—with the wide flaps to either side flapping away—greeted him through the window. The beast had climbed up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-foehner-wells/the-unhinged-jaw-of-a-nepatrox-mouth-with-the-wide-flaps-to-either/) [Jennifer Foehner Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-foehner-wells/) > [Snapshots, moments, mere seconds: as fragile and beautiful and hopeless as a single butterfly, flapping on against a gathering wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/snapshots-moments-mere-seconds-as-fragile-and-beautiful-and-hopeless/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [I was awakened at midnight by some heavy, low-flying bird, probably a loon, flapping by close over my head, along the shore. So, turning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-was-awakened-at-midnight-by-some-heavy-low-flying-bird-probably-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Fractal litigation, whereby the flapping of a butterfly’s wings on one side of the world resulted in a massive compensation claim on the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/fractal-litigation-whereby-the-flapping-of-a-butterfly-s-wings-on-one/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [Here in this ocean, in the midst of all this water, with the red flags on those distant buoys flapping in the sea breeze,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/here-in-this-ocean-in-the-midst-of-all-this-water-with-the-red-flags/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) > [ From the time of Dante \[Alighieri\], when you have the Ptolemaic universe, you had God on the outside like a hypersphere, and then in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/from-the-time-of-dante-alighieri-when-you-have-the-ptolemaic-universe/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [It's awful undermining to the intellect, German is; you want to take it in small doses, or first you know your brains all run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-awful-undermining-to-the-intellect-german-is-you-want-to-take-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [But the owls themselves are not hard to find, silent and on the wing, with their ear tufts flat against their heads as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/but-the-owls-themselves-are-not-hard-to-find-silent-and-on-the-wing/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Happiness is excitement that has found a settling down place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-excitement-that-has-found-a-settling-down-place-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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/) > [The function of genius is to furnish cretins with ideas twenty years later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/the-function-of-genius-is-to-furnish-cretins-with-ideas-twenty-years/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) [Explore all 46 Louis Aragon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I must confess that I and a few others are burdened with heavy responsibilities regarding the future of criticism. 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