Candor is the brightest gem of criticism. [ Benjamin Disraeli ]

Criticism is not construction; it is observation. [ G. W. Curtis ]

Criticism should be written for the public, not the artist. [ Wm. Winter ]

Criticism is like champagne, nothing more execrable if bad, nothing more excellent if good. [ Colton ]

Sympathy is the first condition of criticism; reason and justice presuppose, at their origin, emotion. [ Amiel ]

Criticism must never be sharpened into anatomy. The life of the imagination, as of the body, disappears when we pursue it. [ Willmott ]

A true critic, in the perusal of a book, is like a dog at a feast, whose thoughts and stomach are wholly set upon what the guests fling away, and consequently is apt to snarl most when there are the fewest bones. [ Swift ]

Nature and books belong to the eyes that see them. It depends on the mood of the man, whether he shall see the sunset or the fine poem. There are always sunsets, and there is always genius; but only a few hours so serene that we can relish nature or criticism. The more or less depends on structure or temperament. Temperament is the iron wire on which the beads are strung. Of what use is fortune or talent to a cold and defective nature? [ Emerson ]