Brooks Atkinson
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinsonwas an American theatre critic. He worked for The New York Times from 1925 to 1960. In his obituary, the Times called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his time."...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth28 November 1894
CityMelrose, MA
CountryUnited States of America
judging facts life-is
Life is seldom as unendurable as, to judge by the facts, it logically ought to be.
men criticism down-and
There should be a dash of the amateur in criticism. For the amateur is a man of enthusiasm who has not settled down and is not habit bound.
war democracy littles
After each war there is a little less democracy left to save.
justice long church
I have no objections to churches so long as they do not interfere with God's work.
guilt daily-life shame
Everyone in daily life carries such a heavy mixed burden on his own conscience that he is reluctant to penalize those who have been caught.
party wine serious
The cheese and wine party has the form of friendship without the warmth and devotion. It is a device either for getting rid of social obligations hurriedly en mass, or for making overtures towards more serious social relationships, as in the etiquette of whoring.
work trying half
Don't be condescending to unskilled labor. Try it for a half a day first.
photography artist giving
The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking.
art real men
It seems to me that the thing that makes the theater worthwhile is the fact that it attracts so many people with ideas who are constantly trying to share them with the public. Real art is illumination. It gives a man an idea he never had before or lights up ideas that were formless or only lurking in the shadows of his mind. It adds stature to life.
art real illumination
Real art is illumination, it adds stature to life.
love evil balance
We cheerfully assume that in some mystic way love conquers all, that good outweighs evil in the just balances of the universe and at the 11th hour something gloriously triumphant will prevent the worst before it happens.
hero friendly needs
Walking companions, like heroes, are difficult to pluck out of the crowd of acquaintances. Good dispositions, ready wit, friendly conversation serve well enough by the fireside but they prove insufficient in the field. For there you need transcendentalists-nothing less; you need poets, sages, humorists and natural philosophers.
nature self bird
Although birds coexist with us on this eroded planet, they live independently of us with a self-sufficiency that is almost a rebuke. In the world of birds a symposium on the purpose of life would be inconceivable. They do not need it. We are not that self-reliant. We are the ones who have lost our way.
play joy towns
There is no joy so great as that of reporting that a good play has come to town.