Quotes by M. H. Abrams
16 quotes by M. H. Abrams
M. H. Abrams - critic
Life period: 1912
I've always been surprised at the degree of success of The Mirror and the Lamp and duration of esteem for it. I had no reason to expect in 1953 that it would appeal to more than a specialized group interested in literary criticism.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about criticism, literary critic, reason
If you learn one thing from having lived through decades of changing views, it is that all predictions are necessarily false.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about things
If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about body
It's amazing how, age after age, in country after country, and in all languages, Shakespeare emerges as incomparable.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about country, age, olderness
John Updike is always fun. And one of my former students, Tom Pynchon. And Harold Bloom, another former student.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about students
Key metaphors help determine what and how we perceive and how we think about our perceptions.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about metaphors, help
Rap is far from an abstract, dematerialized mode of utterance. I hate a lot of rap because it's bad stuff, but it does emphasize the articulatory aspect of the words.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about hate, bad luck, word, bad
The appeal of literature is that it is so thoroughly a human thing-by, for and about human beings. If you lose that focus, you obviate the source of the power and permanence of literature.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about literature, concentration, human imperfections, power, things
The survival of artistic modes in which we recognize ourselves, identify ourselves and place ourselves will survive as long as humanity survives.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about survival, humanity
We are human, and nothing is more interesting to us than humanity.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about humanity, human imperfections, nothing
We worked on solving the problem of voice communications in a noisy military environment. We established military codes that are highly audible and invented selection tests for personnel who had a superior ability to recognize sound in a noisy...
Quote by M. H. Abrams about army, tests, voice, ability
When I was a graduate student, the leading spirits at Harvard were interested in the history of ideas.
Quote by M. H. Abrams about students, history
