Harold Bloom Quotes

A collection of quotes by Harold Bloom.

Harold Bloom (1930-2019) was an influential literary critic and professor best known for his contribution to the field of literary theory and his concept of "the anxiety of influence." Born in New York City, Bloom attended Cornell University and later earned his PhD from Yale University in 1955. He went on to teach English at various prestigious institutions, including Yale and New York University.

Throughout his career, Bloom authored numerous books and essays that explored the works of renowned writers such as Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, and William Faulkner. His most famous work, "The Anxiety of Influence," published in 1973, introduced a groundbreaking theory on how writers are influenced by and struggle with the works of their predecessors.

Bloom's literary criticism was known for its highly personal and subjective nature. He often delved into the emotional and psychological aspects of reading, emphasizing the intimate connection between the reader and the text. Bloom regarded literature as a form of spiritual experience and championed the concept of "poetic knowledge."

Although his ideas were not without controversy, Bloom left an indelible mark on the field of literary criticism, initiating a new wave of scholarship that emphasized the reader's role in interpreting and appreciating literature. His distinctive voice, passion for literature, and immense knowledge made him a highly respected figure in academia.

Criticism starts - it has to start - with a real passion for

Criticism starts - it has to start - with a real passion for reading. It can come in adolescence, even in your twenties, but you must fall in love with poems.

Harold Bloom

Love Reading

What we call a poem is mostly what is not there on the page.

What we call a poem is mostly what is not there on the page. The strength of any poem is the poems that it has managed to exclude.

Harold Bloom

Strength

We read deeply for varied reasons, most of them familiar: th

We read deeply for varied reasons, most of them familiar: that we cannot know enough people profoundly enough that we need to know ourselves better that we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are.

Harold Bloom

Knowledge

Criticism in the universities, I'll have to admit, has enter

Criticism in the universities, I'll have to admit, has entered a phase where I am totally out of sympathy with 95% of what goes on. It's Stalinism without Stalin.

Harold Bloom

Sympathy

I would say that there is no future for literary studies as

I would say that there is no future for literary studies as such in the United States.

Harold Bloom

Future

But in the end, in the end one is alone. We are all of us al

But in the end, in the end one is alone. We are all of us alone. I mean I'm told these days we have to consider ourselves as being in society... but in the end one knows one is alone, that one lives at the heart of a solitude.

Harold Bloom

Alone

The second, and I think this is the much more overt and I th

The second, and I think this is the much more overt and I think it is the main cause, I have been increasingly demonstrating or trying to demonstrate that every possible stance a critic, a scholar, a teacher can take towards a poem is itself inevitably and necessarily poetic.

Harold Bloom

Teacher

I realized early on that the academy and the literary world

I realized early on that the academy and the literary world alike

Harold Bloom

Literary

People cannot stand the saddest truth I know about the very

People cannot stand the saddest truth I know about the very nature of reading and writing imaginative literature, which is that poetry does not teach us how to talk to other people: it teaches us how to talk to ourselves. What I

Harold Bloom

Poetry