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For, poems read without a name,
We justly praise, or justly blame;
And critics have no partial views,
Except they know whom they abuse.
And since you ne'er provoke their spite,
Depend upon't their judgment's right.

— Jonathan Swift

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Advice

More quotes by Jonathan Swift

Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own.

Proper words in proper places, make the true definition of a style.

I said the thing which was not. (For they have no word in their language to express lying or falsehood.)

Gulliver's Travels (1726)

He made it a part of his religion never to say grace to his meat.

A Tale of a Tub (1704)

A wise man is never less alone than when he is alone.

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A man must serve his time to every trade
Save censure — critics are ready-made.

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The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Parodies and caricatures are the most penetrating of criticisms.

Aldous Huxley Point Counter Point (1928)

Let no man value at a little price
A virtuous woman's counsel; her wing'd spirit
Is feather'd oftentimes with heavenly words.

George Chapman The Gentleman Usher (1606)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jonathan Swift (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.