A critic is a bunch of biases held loosely together by a sense of taste. Witney Balliett, Dinosaurs in the Mornng , 1962

评论家就是由品味随意捆扎起来的一束偏见。

Critics are like eunuchs in the harem: they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day, but they’re unable to do t themselves. Brendan Behan, 1923-64, Irish playwright (Attrib.)

评论家就像后宫里的太监：他们知道怎么做，天天看别人做，可他们自己做不了。

Critics can’t even make music by rubbing their back legs together. Mel Brooks, American writer and comedian, quoted in The New York Times , 1975

评论家甚至连摩擦后腿发出乐音都做不到。

Taking to pieces is the trade of those who cannot construct. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-82, American poet and essayist (Attrib.)

不会建造的人，拆卸就是他们的手艺。

A drama critic is a person who surprises the playwright by informing him what he meant. Wilson Mizner, 1876-1933, American playwright and raconteur

剧评家就是把剧本的含义告诉剧作家而让剧作家感到吃惊的一个人。

Asking a working writer what he feels about critics is like asking a lamp-post what it feels about dogs. John Osborne, 1929-94, English playwright (Attrib.)

问一个创作的作家对评论家的感觉，就像问电线杆对狗的感觉。

A critic s a man who knows the way but can’t drive the car. Kenneth Tynan, English critic, The New York Times, 1966

评论家是懂得如何开车但开不了车的一个人。

It is exactly because a man cannot dod a thing that he is the proper judge of it. Oscar Wilde, ‘The Critic as Artist’, 1890

一个人适合作一件事的裁判，恰恰是因为他不会做这件事。

Has anyone ever seen a dramatic critic in the daytime? Of course not. They come out after dark, up to no good. P. G. Wodehouse, 1881-1975, English comic novelist

有谁见到剧评家白天出来的吗？当然没有。他们都在天黑后才不怀好意地出来。

A bad review is even less important than whether it is rainng in Patagonia. Iris Murdoch, 1919-99, Irish Writer

一篇糟糕的评论就更无足轻重了，还不如关注巴塔哥尼亚高原是 不 是下雨。