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.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about criticism, literary critic, success, reason
If you learn one thing from having lived through decades of changing views, it is that all predictions are necessarily false.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about things, contentment
If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about body, contentment
It's amazing how, age after age, in country after country, and in all languages, Shakespeare emerges as incomparable.
MQuote 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.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about students
Key metaphors help determine what and how we perceive and how we think about our perceptions.
MQuote 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.
MQuote 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.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about literature, concentration, human imperfections, power, things, contentment
The survival of artistic modes in which we recognize ourselves, identify ourselves and place ourselves will survive as long as humanity survives.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about survival, humanity
We are human, and nothing is more interesting to us than humanity.
MQuote 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...
MQuote 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.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about students, history
When something startlingly new comes up, young people, especially, seize it. You can't complain about that. I think its heyday has passed, but it's had an effect and will continue to have an effect.
MQuote by M. H. Abrams about nation, people, contentment
