Harold Bloom
Influential critic whose works on Shakespeare provided quotable literary insights, though primarily a scholar.
Quotes by Harold Bloom
Shakespeare is the secular scripture of the West.
The strongest poets are those who are most deeply indebted to their predecessors.
The purpose of literature is to give us more life.
The self is a process, not a fixed entity.
The critic's greatest enemy is ideology.
Reading is an act of self-creation.
The aesthetic is a defense against chaos.
Shakespeare's characters are more real than real people.
The true poet is always a revisionist.
The self is a perpetual struggle for meaning.
The critic's role is to preserve the integrity of the literary tradition.
The best literature is always difficult.
The aesthetic is the last refuge of the individual.
Shakespeare is the measure of all things literary.
The poet's struggle is with the ghosts of the past.
The self is a continuous act of interpretation.
The critic must be a lover of literature, not a judge.
The purpose of art is to awaken us to life.
The aesthetic is a form of knowledge.
Shakespeare is the ultimate test of a critic's mettle.