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The most destructive criticism is indifference.

quote by Edgar Watson Howe
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Indifference

Indifference is a blatant unkindness,
Far worse than anger and hatred.
With indifference you can get away
From victims, their anguish and miseries.
With indifference you can be well safe
From interruptions to your work and joy.
Neighbours are of no consequence
Nor are their lives meaningful.
Anger is creative; it brings changes.
Hatred is creative; it brings effects.
Indifference is not no-intrusion.
Indifference is destructive and inhuman.
06.10.2006

poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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If government, or those in positions of power and authority, can silence criticism by the argument that such criticism might be misunderstood somewhere, there is an end to all criticism, and perhaps an end to our kind of political system. For men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.

quote by Henry Steele Commager
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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An Essay on Criticism

Part I

INTRODUCTION. That it is as great a fault to judge ill as to write ill, and a more dangerous one to the public. That a true Taste is as rare to be found as a true Genius. That most men are born with some Taste, but spoiled by false education. The multitude of Critics, and causes of them. That we are to study our own Taste, and know the limits of it. Nature the best guide of judgment. Improved by Art and rules, which are but methodized Nature. Rules derived from the practice of the ancient poets. That therefore the ancients are necessary to be studied by a Critic, particularly Homer and Virgil. Of licenses, and the use of them by the ancients. Reverence due to the ancients, and praise of them.

'Tis hard to say if greater want of skill
Appear in writing or in judging ill;
But of the two less dangerous is th'offence
To tire our patience than mislead our sense:
Some few in that, but numbers err in this;
Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss;
A fool might once himself alone expose;
Now one in verse makes many more in prose.

'Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own.
In Poets as true Genius is but rare,
True Taste as seldom is the Critic's share;
Both must alike from Heav'n derive their light,
These born to judge, as well as those to write.
Let such teach others who themselves excel,
And censure freely who have written well;
Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true,
But are not Critics to their judgment too?

Yet if we look more closely, we shall find
Most have the seeds of judgment in their mind:
Nature affords at least a glimm'ring light;
The lines, tho' touch'd but faintly, are drawn right:
But as the slightest sketch, if justly traced,
Is by ill col'ring but the more disgraced,
So by false learning is good sense defaced:
Some are bewilder'd in the maze of schools,
And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools:
In search of wit these lose their common sense,
And then turn Critics in their own defence:
Each burns alike, who can or cannot write,
Or with a rival's or an eunuch's spite.
All fools have still an itching to deride,
And fain would be upon the laughing side.
If Mævius scribble in Apollo's spite,
There are who judge still worse than he can write.

Some have at first for Wits, then Poets pass'd;
Turn'd Critics next, and prov'd plain Fools at last.
Some neither can for Wits nor Critics pass,
As heavy mules are neither horse nor ass.
Those half-learn'd witlings, numerous in our isle,
As half-form'd insects on the banks of Nile;
Unfinish'd things, one knows not what to call,

[...] Read more

poem by Alexander Pope
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A Moment Of Transition

In all lives
where great character
is attained...
comes a moment
requiring
exceptional transition.

Sometimes
historically to achieve
something revolutionary...
profoundly better
something imminently bad
must transpire first.

Not to recognize
the necessity
effort required...
to alleviate
inhuman pain
is an inherent evil.

Not to recognize
the personal necessity;
required to alleviate...
inhuman catastrophic pain;
when possible is to exhibit
callous inhuman indifference.

Not to individually make
a stand for our fellow man;
during times exhibiting...
evil in excessive transition;
is the most destructive tragedy
inditing the entire human race.

Not to recognize
the personal necessity;
necessary in submitting to risk...
this enacting pain of transition;
sacrifice which must be taken
is the most destructive tragedy of all.

Copyright © Terence George Craddock
See also Stone Cross Prologue, Stone Cross, A Moral Civilized World, Peaked Cap; Skull-And-Crossbones Badge, Dagmar Topf: A Defence Of Family Furnaces and Struck Down With A Thunderbolt.

The topic of this poem addresses inhuman regimes such as Nazi Germany and the moral obligation of free governments and individuals to resist them. Herman Göring, ordered SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, to begin The Final Solution on July 31 1941. Heydrich organizes The Wannsee Conference, for January 20 1942, the date generally agreed upon as the start of the Holocaust.
The exhibited ‘callous inhuman indifference’ mentioned, can perhaps best be understood with reference to a quotation from George Orwell, reflecting on the coming of World War II. Orwell said “When one thinks of the lies and betrayals of those years, the cynical abandonment of one ally after another, the imbecile optimism of the Tory press, the flat refusal to believe that dictators meant war, even when they shouted it from house tops, the inability of the moneyed class to see anything wrong whatever in concentration camps, ghettoes, massacres, and undeclared wars, one is driven to feel that moral decadence played its part as well as mere stupidity.”

poem by Terence George Craddock
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The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death.

quote by Elie Wiesel
Added by Simona Enache
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They've Chosen To Be Winners

Picking up those pieces from a running done.
Now taking time when before they gave none.
Less they find offensive too.
With fresh sentiments meant,
They've improved.

Sticking to a purpose with a focused aimed
With minds more open.
And those attitudes changed.

A new day dawning has to them been sent.
To send defensive motives flushed,
With their fluxing minds now rinsed.

And...
They've chosen to be winners!
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
To leave behind their indifference.

They have chosen to be winners.
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
They're winners.
With those sentiments meant.
To leave behind their indifference.

Picking up those pieces from a running done.
Now taking time when before they gave none.
Less they find offensive too.
With fresh sentiments meant they've improved.

And...
They've chosen to be winners!
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
They're winners.
With those sentiments meant.
To leave behind their indifference.

They are winners.
With those sentiments meant.
Winners.
With those sentiments meant.
They're winners.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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On the Critical Attitude

The critical attitude
Strikes many people as unfruitful
That is because they find the state
Impervious to their criticism
But what in this case is an unfruitful attitude
Is merely a feeble attitude. Give criticism arms
And states can be demolished by it.

Canalising a river
Grafting a fruit tree
Educating a person
Transforming a state
These are instances of fruitful criticism
And at the same time instances of art.

poem by Bertolt Brecht
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Harassed

Yeah yeah yeah
Well when I was a young boy
My mama told me:
"Blood's thicker than water"
That's what she told me
I don't give a damn anymore
I can't see what makes me so
I remember your criticism
I can't be an organism of your kind
Yeah (yeah), yeah, yeah
Well when I was a little older
My papa said:
"Son yours does not cry
Get your act together boy
Then get the hell out of my sight"
I don't give a damn anymore
I can't see what makes me so
I remember your criticism
I can't be an organism of your kind
Yeah (yeah), Yeah (yeah)
Your kind
Yeah (yeah), Yeah...
You watch the circles
You treat me so bad
I don't dare think it over
Yeah...(mutter)
I can't give.
I said "yeah!"
I don't give a damn anymore
I can't see what makes me so
I remember your criticism
I can't be an organism of your kind
Yeah (yeah), Yeah (yeah)
Your kind (x3)

song performed by Puddle Of Mudd
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An open criticism

I hated most to be called lazy
I keep my self engaged and remain busy
It is funny and very easy
To create flutter and make it noisy

We tend to become idle and relax so much
When not seized with problems as such
It is day to day affairs and must be tackled properly
It is appreciated very much when put across wisely

It is good sign to remain always active
It is equally bad sign if you expose as reactive
People may count you as hostile and immature
It may block your chances and make you insecure

It is not right on our part to offer arguments at criticism
It is known lacuna and allowed in humanism
We simply offer advice or comments without being asked for
It simply creates distrust and situation like mini war

We must learn to sustain the criticism at any cost
It is very severe and considered as worst
Why do we employ double standard when we are at fault?
It adds to woe and agony as if wounds are filled with salt

It keeps you worried all the time for critical remarks
It generates ill will and controversy sparks
It leads to heated arguments and strain the relation
To patch up later on becomes impossible and out of question

It has become now fashion to point out the lapses
No one cares as to what should be done to avert crisis
It is easy to spoil the relation and add fuel to fire
It takes less time to appreciate and admire

Words once spoken can’t be taken back
It may develop bitterness and relation may crack
It may also cause irreparable damage
It may slip out of control to manage

I shall sand to loose in all the respects
Who will search the soul and inspect?
There is something like good humor
It is best weapon in your armor

You inflict injury and your opponent may not come to know
Nice words spoken with sweetness may try to soothe and woe
It is how we tackle and come to an understanding
It is strongest and permanent thing for bonding

[...] Read more

poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
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Gods Favoured Me

Heat – no air-con today – realising France’s dream of
saving their coastline due to the Greenhouse effect,
went for a lunch-break stroll singing all the way,
refusing to contemplate office problems

The gods favoured me on my first day, email connection
restored, now I am so privileged to read criticism of the
work I did before leaving on holiday, I am still girdling
my loins with positive thoughts

Before tackling heartbreaking rejection of words I wrote,
New Year’s Resolution: never face today what can be
deferred to tomorrow, stop and smell the roses, I can
read nasty remarks any time

The mere fact of having an office in which to be miserable
is such a source of joy and delight, not to be spoilt with
feelings of inadequacy; why cry about the humours of
those in charge trying to convince me I am

A disaster because I cannot write the words they dictate,
cannot march to the tune they prescribe, kept in my place
by them changing their translation rules every day - I am
thankful that I can still think and feel after years

As a civil servant, I should have turned into a cyborg ages
ago, yet the incessant stream of criticism proves I am still
the same human I was at the beginning – people like me
cannot be changed into robots

No matter how much criticism is directed our way, olé!

poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Settle Down

Brimming with useless information,
Spilling thoughts void of true opinion,
Yes you'll fight it to the death,
Yeah you'll fight it to the death.
Fighting someone elses favour,
Regurgetate the words you heard on radio 2,
Arghhh didn't you?
[chorus]
Stop throwing insults and crockery around,
We can all be destructive so settle down, settle down
Well every dialoge needs a certain suitor,
One whos open minded,
To calmly digest the very question of,
And understand,
to look at things from many angles,
constuct and critic without anger,
Even comprimise,
You never comprimise
chorus x2
Stop throwing insults and crockery around,
Stop throwing insults and crockery around,
We can all be destructive so settle down, settle down
Stop throwing insults and crockery around,
We can all be destructive so settle down, settle down, settle down, settle down

song performed by Ordinary Boys
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See No Evil

Television)
What I want, I want now
And it's a whole lot more, anyhow
I wanna climb a mountain
I wanna jump, jump, jump, jump a mountain
I understand all destructive urges
It's seems so perfect
I see, I see no evil
I get ideas, notions
I want a nice little boat made out of ocean
I get your point, you're so sharp
Gettin good reactions with 'BeBo' talk
I understand all destructive urges
It's seems so perfect
I see, I see no evil
[SOLO]
I understand all destructive urges
It's seems so perfect
I see, I see no evil
Walkin' hand in hand with the one I love (I see no evil)
Walkin' through Manhattan with the one I love (I see no evil)
Walkin' hand in hand with the one I love (I see no evil)
Walkin' in Jackson with the one I love (I see no evil)
Walkin' in the world with the one I love (I see no evil)
Walkin' and talkin' with the one I love (I see no evil)
Walkin', walkin' and talkin' with the one I love

song performed by REM
Added by Lucian Velea
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I have been frequently accused of deliberately twisting subject matter to my point of view. Above all, I know that life for a photographer cannot be a matter of indifference. Opinion often consists of a kind of criticism. But criticism can come out of love.

quote by Robert Frank
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The most destructive criticism is indifference.

American proverbs
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Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, D.S.P.D.

As Rochefoucauld his maxims drew
From Nature, I believe 'em true:
They argue no corrupted mind
In him; the fault is in mankind.
This maxim more than all the rest
Is thought too base for human breast:
'In all distresses of our friends,
We first consult our private ends;
While Nature, kindly bent to ease us,
Points out some circumstance to please us.'

If this perhaps your patience move,
Let reason and experience prove.

We all behold with envious eyes
Our equal rais'd above our size.
Who would not at a crowded show
Stand high himself, keep others low?
I love my friend as well as you
But would not have him stop my view.
Then let him have the higher post:
I ask but for an inch at most.

If in a battle you should find
One, whom you love of all mankind,
Had some heroic action done,
A champion kill'd, or trophy won;
Rather than thus be overtopt,
Would you not wish his laurels cropt?

Dear honest Ned is in the gout,
Lies rack'd with pain, and you without:
How patiently you hear him groan!
How glad the case is not your own!

What poet would not grieve to see
His brethren write as well as he?
But rather than they should excel,
He'd wish his rivals all in hell.

Her end when emulation misses,
She turns to envy, stings and hisses:
The strongest friendship yields to pride,
Unless the odds be on our side.

Vain human kind! fantastic race!
Thy various follies who can trace?
Self-love, ambition, envy, pride,
Their empire in our hearts divide.
Give others riches, power, and station,

[...] Read more

poem by Jonathan Swift
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New Year's Eve

normally i'd be french-twisting my hair and
selecting the right earrings to wear it's a special
evening for most normally i'd be proposing a
toast but not this year because i'm here the
party's all around me you're there indifference
has found me i know it's not in fashion wearing
heartache on your sleeve but i'm here and
you're there so who cares what i wear on new
year's eve normally i'd be knee-deep in
champagne i'd kick my heels up until neighbors
complain it's a glamorous evening for most
normally i'd be upstaging the host but not this
year because i'm here the party's all around me
you're there indifference has found me i know i
should have dressed up but i just can't make
believe now i'm here and you're there so who
cares what i wear on new year's eve if you're
flirting with some other girl tonight i'm not flirting
with some other guy i keep thinking how last year
at midnight you blew me away with the resolution
that you made i'm here the party's all around
me you're there indifference has found me and
tonight before the ball drops i'll grab my coat
and leave i'm here and you're there so who
cares what i wear on new year's eve

song performed by Nina Gordon from Tonight And The Rest Of My Life
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The Touchables

Speaking of which, what is your choice
Your conversation will suffice
I feel the need thats known to all
Better use it up before the levels fall
You can take me back to the primal drive
You can carry on until we arrive
Hypnotised inside
Now Im not young and youre not old
Id rather purchase than be sold
Crazed friends so bold
Its not easy to conceal
When youre so touchable
People will hide indifference
Just to be touchable
They still emit split second screams
When they are touchable
Under the surface just for kicks
Sincerely touchable
You say its okay, but what do I feel
Guilt, compassion, or achilles heel
Little feet march down grey matter hill
Then panic occurs, no seeds to spill
Whats the matter now
Please look up and speak
Your spirits wilting and your flesh is weak
Eight days a week
I cant imagine whatll happen now
I wonder when and I wonder how
The end will come
Its not easy to conceal
When youre so touchable
People will hide indifference
Just to be touchable
Its not easy to conceal
When youre so touchable
People will hide indifference
Just to be touchable
They still emit split second screams
When they are touchable
Under the surface just for kicks
Sincerely touchable
The final answer to all our fears
Abrupt conclusion to all our years
Still touchable but no one hears
They carry on hypnotised inside

song performed by Human League
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Defending This Diminishes Quick

Indifference is a global threat.
Too busy sipping is a global threat.
And finding the time to wine and dine...
And complaining about neighbors,
In gossip is a crime.

Indifference is a global threat.
Too busy sipping is a global threat.
And finding the time to wine and dine...
And complaining about neighbors,
In gossip...
Is a crime.

And people who do nothing but sit on stoops...
With a hoop all day that's hollered,
Is crude and rude.
And children overseeing this,
Think these attitudes done...
Are cool to copy too.

Romancing what they do is sick.
And defending this diminishes quick.
Especially in the doing of it...
Is considered and respected,
As nobody's business!

Indifference is a global threat.
Too busy sipping is a global threat.
And finding the time to wine and dine...
And complaining about neighbors,
In gossip...
Is a crime.

And children overseeing this,
Think these attitudes done...
Are cool to copy too.
And showing them the opposite...
Will get the rolling of eyes,
And frowning lips.

Romancing what they do is sick.
And defending this diminishes quick.
Especially in the doing of it...
Is considered and respected,
As nobody's business!

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Cog in the machine

I'm a cog in the machine
A machine fuelled
By indifference and greed
Going nowhere
But moving the whole

I turn as I'm told
I'm young but already old
I don't question-I do
Must conform
Be a part of this block
That only starts
And never stops
Without going forward
Serving my sentence:
Life inside a clock

Time is running out…
Tic-Toc
Tic-Toc

I'm a cog in the machine
Spinning on my axis
Riveted on the axle
Of a psychotic vision

I fit the mould
My life already sold
Part of the mechanical dream
That isn't my own
Surrounded but alone
In the midst of a mindless flock
No sentience
In a world
Without conscience
Time is running out…
Tic-Toc
Tic-Toc

I'm a cog in the machine
Spinning on my axis
Going nowhere
But moving the whole

Destined to be worn
Since the day I was born
Knowing that what I am
Isn't greater than the whole
Where Proximity
Has no intimacy

[...] Read more

poem by Ronberge
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Avec ses vêtements ondoyants et nacrés (With Waving Opalescense In Her Gown)

Avec ses vêtements ondoyants et nacrés,
Même quand elle marche on croirait qu'elle danse,
Comme ces longs serpents que les jongleurs sacrés
Au bout de leurs bâtons agitent en cadence.

Comme le sable morne et l'azur des déserts,
Insensibles tous deux à l'humaine souffrance
Comme les longs réseaux de la houle des mers
Elle se développe avec indifférence.

Ses yeux polis sont faits de minéraux charmants,
Et dans cette nature étrange et symbolique
Où l'ange inviolé se mêle au sphinx antique,

Où tout n'est qu'or, acier, lumière et diamants,
Resplendit à jamais, comme un astre inutile,
La froide majesté de la femme stérile.

With Her Pearly, Undulating Dresses

With her pearly, undulating dresses,
Even when she's walking, she seems to be dancing
Like those long snakes which the holy fakirs
Set swaying in cadence on the end of their staffs.

Like the dull sand and the blue of deserts,
Both of them unfeeling toward human suffering,
Like the long web of the ocean's billows,
She unfurls herself with unconcern.

Her glossy eyes are made of charming minerals
And in that nature, symbolic and strange,
Where pure angel is united with ancient sphinx,

Where everything is gold, steel, light and diamonds,
There glitters forever, like a useless star,
The frigid majesty of the sterile woman.

— Translated by William Aggeler

With Waving Opalescence in Her Gown

With waving opalescence in her gown,
Even when she walks along, you think she's dancing.
Like those long snakes which charmers, while entrancing,
Wave with their wands, in cadence, up and down.

Like the sad sands of deserts and their skies,
By human sufferings untouched and free,

[...] Read more

poem by Charles Baudelaire
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