Quotes by Harold Bloom

“ Read deeply, not to believe, not to accept, not to contradict, but to learn to share in that one nature that writes and reads. “

-Harold Bloom-

Read deeply, not to believe, not to accept, not to contradict, but to learn to share in that one nature that writes and reads.

We read, frequently if not unknowingly, in search of a mind more original than our own.

Real reading is a lonely activity.

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.

Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.

It has always been dangerous to institutionalize hope, and we no longer live in a society in which we will be allowed to institutionalize memory.

Introducing Harold Bloom

Harold Bloom (1930–2019) was an American literary critic and professor renowned for his extensive work on the Western literary canon. He taught at Yale University for decades and also held positions at Harvard and New York University. Bloom was known for his theories on literary influence, particularly in The Anxiety of Influence (1973), where he argued that poets struggle with the impact of their predecessors. He championed classic literature and was a vocal critic of contemporary trends like multiculturalism in literary studies. His notable works include The Western Canon (1994) and Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998).