Auden on Criticism

From an excerpt in Harper's, itself from The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose, Volume III, 1949-1955, edited by Edward Mendelson, being published next month:"Judging a work of art is virtually the same mental operation as judging human beings, and requires the same aptitudes: first, a real love of works of art, an inclination to praise rather than blame, and regret when a complete rejection is required; second, a vast experience of all artistic activities; and last, an awareness, openly and happily accepted, of one's own prejudices. Some critics fail because they are pedants whose ideal of perfection is always offended by a concrete realization. Others fail because they are insular and hostile to what is alien to them; these critics, yielding to their prejudices without knowing they have them and sincerely offering judgments they believe to be objective, are more excusable than those who, aware of their prejudices, lack the courage to enter the lists to defend their personal tastes."I take this to mean that bad critics can, in some context, be defined as bad human beings. ;) Seriously, though--I think this clear, simple definition of a good versus bad critic offers words to live by.Jeff