There is a certain justice in criticism. The critic is like a midwife - a tyrannical midwife.
quote by Stephen Spender
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
The midwife should have cut his throat rather than his navel.
I was not the midwife of the Law School, but its fraternal twin.
quote by Norman Lamm
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Why didn't the midwife, who cut your naval string, cut your head instead?
Truth is the daughter of time, and I feel no shame in being her midwife.
quote by Johannes Kepler
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard.
quote by Billy Wilder
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Like a midwife, I make my living bringing new babies into the world, except that mine are new advertising campaigns.
quote by David Ogilvy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Old Town Types No. 12 - Mrs Munn, The Nurse
Mrs Munn, the midwife - Mother Munn they called her
Wallowed in the world's woes; sickness ne'er appalled her.
She spared no grisly detail as she gossipped on apace,
When - 'Me an' Doctor Littlejohn, my dear, is on a case,'
For - 'Me an' Doctor Littlejohn has awful much to do;
An' some is doin' poorly, but we 'opes to pull 'em thro','
Says Mrs Munn, the town's nurse, short and gingham gowned,
Five feet two in height and four feet around.
Mrs Munn, the midwife toddles down the street,
Telling secrets, dropping hints to friends that she may meet.
'To see the state of 'er, my dear! You 'ardly would believe;
But me an' Doctor Littlejohn ain't easy to deceive.
Gets 'er likker unbeknownst! 'Usband? he don't see.
An' she says it's indigestion, but - you can't tell me!
I knows the signs,' says Mrs Munn, with nods and winks profound
Five feet two of her and four feet around.
Mrs Munn, the midwife no laundered cap;
A black, bugled bonnet and an old print wrap
Were all she knew of uniform. Her discipline was slack,
And curious things might happen when the doctor turned his back.
Maddened by her sloven ways, wearied by her voice,
He longed to send her packing, but he had no other choice
Than Mrs Munn, whose methos were both novel and unsound
Five feet two of her and four feet around.
Mrs Munn - Mother Munn - maybe she served her turn;
For science lagged in those days and men were slow to learn.
Tho' she had great and grievous faults, she had her virtues, too;
And 'Me an' Doctor Littlejohn' pulled many a hard case thro';
Where once she messed and muddled thro', mid births and typhoid scares,
A trim, efficient Sister now has charge of such affairs;
For Mrs Munn, with all her kind, is long since underground
The five feet two of her and four feet around.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A New Life
The midwife
Together with my wife
Strove to bring us a life
(A new life)
To care for our lives
After our strife.
poem by Efe Benjamin
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I still think like a critic, and I still analyze films like a critic. However, it's not possible to write criticism if you're making films.
quote by Paul Schrader
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Born Writer
the midwife was shocked
her mother could not believe it
when he was born
his tiny fingers came with a pen
and a paper
and instead of giving the first cry
of the little baby
he dictated to those who are shocked
his name and his ambition
his next poem
and his latest novel
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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One of the marks of a truly vigorous society is the ability to dispense with passion as a midwife of action - the ability to pass directly from thought to action.
quote by Eric Hoffer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Donkor
Making waves,
Making history,
Making love;
Like a new born baby with the placenta and the umbilical cord.
Donkor, i am the midwife living next door;
And like the 'Club of Babylon',
I am here to educate you and the general public.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical.
quote by Blaise Pascal
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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An Unintended Blessing
the critic serves a useful purpose
criticism can contain a surprising
amount of suddenly revealed truth
comments may have been venom versed
yet these are a great source of inspiration
in identifying areas to accurately improve
my philosophy, to use criticism, for a better,
more determined purpose, as focus point,
as an inspiration, to succeed, to attain excellence
poem by Terence George Craddock
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The Best Teacher
the best teacher is the midwife
she helps you
give birth to ideas
she eases the pain
she wipes the blood
she takes the baby
from you
yet you know that
everything is safe and sound
you hear you baby cry
as she raises him
invertedly up
against the sky
then she leaves
in tiptoeing silence
as you sleep soundly again
closing your eyes for more
sweet dreams
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The average man, if he meddles with criticism at all, is a conservative critic.
quote by A.E. Housman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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If government, or those in positions of power and authority, can silence criticism by the argument that such criticism might be misunderstood somewhere, there is an end to all criticism, and perhaps an end to our kind of political system. For men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.
quote by Henry Steele Commager
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Made to Feel Welcome
I'm sure Sandra M. Gilbert
The author of her collection
Of poems titled
'ghost volcano'
Had no idea what her poem
'Kissing the Bread'
Would remind me of
When she wrote about
Her mother's habit of
Kissing old bread
Before she threw it away
Sandra found out
'Her mother the Sicilian midwife
taught her, taught all nine, '...
'Non so. You kiss it like
crossing yourself before a crisis, before
the train leaves the station,
before the baby falls,
startled, into a sudden
scorch of air.'
What a description of birth
- -a baby falling startled
into a sudden
scorch of air
My grandmother
Who is now 103
Has told me of her mother
Who was a midwife in Maui
They grew up in the Hawiian islands
After their parents came
From Puerto Rico speaking
Spanish learning pidgin-Hawaiian
My great-grandmother Vegas
Had other skills too
In addition to being a mid-wife
She could heal the sick and injured
Her blessings combined with
Her homemade remedies
Brought comfort and restoration
Of health and well being
Both were more fragile back then
From childhood mortality
To a variety of fevers boils
Farming injuries violent digestive alimments
She was also with them
When they could no longer fight back
She blessed them and assured them
They would be welcome
They were exposed to much of what
We are now insulted from by
Vaccinations hospitals real doctors
Refreigereation indoor plumbing
However as far as I know
Babies still fall startled
Into a sudden scorch or air
Hopfully into warm welcoming arms
poem by Tom J. Mariani
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I have never believed that the critic is the rival of the poet, but I do believe that criticism is a genre of literature or it does not exist.
quote by Harold Bloom
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.
quote by Charles de Secondat
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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