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
lonely writing men
Nothing a man writes can please him as profoundly as something he does with his back, shoulders and hands. For writing is an artificial activity. It is a lonely and private substitute for conversation.
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.
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.
life men evil
The evil that men do lives on the front pages of greedy newspapers, but the good is oft interred apathetically inside.
men ideas two
Every man with an idea has at least two or three followers.
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.
humorous men years
The humorous man recognizes that absolute purity, absolute justice, absolute logic and perfection are beyond human achievement and that men have been able to live happily for thousands of years in a state of genial frailty.
men risk dreamer
This nation was built by men who took risks-pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, businessmen who were not afraid of failure, scientists who were not afraid of the truth, thinkers who were not afraid of progress, dreamers who were not afraid of action.
responsibility men perfect
The perfect bureaucrat everywhere is the man who manages to make no decisions and escape all responsibility.
flaming knows song stand tower
Ethel Waters, the flaming tower of dusky regality, who knows how to make a song stand on tiptoe.
drama public vivid
As thought it is a contribution to public knowledge. As drama it is vivid and bold.
american-critic anybody fatal fixed growth life narrow point since view
The most fatal illusion is the narrow point of view. Since life is growth and motion, a fixed point of view kills anybody who has one.
democracy less war
After each war there is a little less democracy to save.
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.