Van Wyck Brooks
4 quotes
Biography
Van Wyck Brooks was an American literary critic, biographer, and historian.
"People of small caliber are always carping. They are bent on showing their own superiority, their knowledge or prowess or good breeding."
"There is no stopping the world's tendency to throw off imposed restraints, the religious authority that is based on the ignorance of the many, the political authority that is based on the knowledge of the few."
"Those of our writers who have possessed a vivid personal talent have been paralyzed by a want of social background."
"Nothing is so soothing to our self-esteem as to find our bad traits in our forebears. It seems to absolve us."