Poet Quote by William Shenstone

In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal rule that good poets are bad critics.

— Thomas B. Macaulay

You do not become a critic until it has been completely established to your own satisfaction that you cannot be a poet.

— Theophile Gautier

A critic must accept what is best in a poet, and thus become his best encourager.

— Edmund Clarence Stedman

Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.

— Erica Jong

I have never believed that the critic is the rival of the poet, but I do believe that criticism is a genre of literature…

— Harold Bloom

Honest criticism is not direct war on the poet but upon the poetry.

— RMKATTA

Honest criticism and sensible appreciation are directed not upon the poet but upon the poetry.

— Anonymous

For the critic, criticism is a form of natural self-expression, as poetry is to the poet. So, for a critic, criticism is a true…

— Helen Vendler

Paradoxically, the simpler poetry is, the more difficult it becomes for a critic to discuss intelligently. Trained to explicate, the critic often loses the…

— Dana Gioia

“Good or bad, positive or negative, there is no comment more insulting to a poet than one displaying that you have not properly read…

— Jasper Sole

All that a critic, as critic, can give poets is the deadly encouragement that never ceases to remind them of how heavy their inheritance…

— Harold Bloom

Many poets, as you know, are not good readers.

— Robert Giroux