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
art real illumination
Real art is illumination, it adds stature to life.
justice long church
I have no objections to churches so long as they do not interfere with God's work.
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.
people theatre sides
Although the theater is not life, it is composed of fragments or imitations of life, and people on both sides of the footlight have to unite to make the fragments whole and the imitations genuine.
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.
play america optimism
In the 1920s dramatists attacked their subjects as if the inequities could be resolved. Some of the traditional optimism of America lurked behind most of the early plays. But not now. There is no conviction now that the problem will be solved.
book writing radiance
Writing is not an end in itself but life transmuted into radiance.
struggle people independence
The cult of nature is a form of patronage by people who have declared their materialistic independence from nature and do not have to struggle with nature every day of their lives.
business cutting matter
There is a good deal of solemn cant about the common interests of capital and labor. As matters stand, their only common interest is that of cutting each others throat.
crazy play theatre
Good plays drive bad playgoers crazy.
perspective people ideals
In the ideal sense nothing is uninteresting; there are only uninterested people.
truth quintessence has-beens
It seems not to have been written. It is the quintessence of life. It is the basic truth.
graduation college men
It takes most men five years to recover from a college education, and to learn that poetry is as vital to thinking as knowledge.
believe responsibility thinking
People everywhere enjoy believing things that they know are not true. It spares them the ordeal of thinking for themselves and taking responsibility for what they know.