M. H. Abrams Quotes

Powerful M. H. Abrams for Daily Growth

About M. H. Abrams

M.H. Abrams (Morton Harwitz Abrams), born on September 7, 1911, in New York City, was a renowned American literary critic and theorist, significantly contributing to the field of English literature. His intellectual journey began at City College of New York, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in 1930. He further pursued his academic interests at Harvard University, obtaining his Master's (1932) and Doctorate degrees (1936). Abrams is best known for his seminal work "The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition" (1953), which remains a foundational text in literary studies. This book offers an analysis of romantic literature and its critical reception from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, tracing the development of key theories that have shaped our understanding of this period. Influenced by thinkers like I.A. Richards, T.S. Eliot, and F.R. Leavis, Abrams's work reflected a deep engagement with both traditional and modern critical thought. He was also deeply influenced by his experiences as a student at City College during the Great Depression, which shaped his social consciousness and influenced his interpretations of literature. Abrams served as a professor at Cornell University for over four decades (1946-1985), where he held various positions including chair of the English department and university provost. His other notable works include "Glossary of Literary Terms" (7th edition, 2016) and "Natural Supernaturalism: Tradition and Revolution in Romantic Literature" (1971). Abrams passed away on March 25, 2015, at the age of 103. His contributions to literary studies continue to shape the field, making him an enduring figure in the world of academia and literature.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Art must be an experience as immediate as possible."

M.H. Abrams suggests that art should be a direct, intuitive, and unfiltered experience for both the creator and the audience. He values the immediacy of artistic expression and reception over layers of interpretation or mediation. This viewpoint emphasizes the emotional and sensory impact of art, rather than its intellectual analysis or historical context.

"Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality."

M.H. Abrams suggests that poetry is not about expressing raw emotions or personal experiences, but rather about transcending them. Poetry allows individuals to break free from their emotional states and personal identities, creating a universal and timeless artifact that can resonate with others. In this sense, poetry serves as an escape route, offering solace, perspective, and a means of communicating complex ideas beyond the confines of individual emotion or personality.

"Literature is the art of discovering something unexpected in something ordinary."

This quote by M.H. Abrams suggests that literature, through its creative exploration of commonplace experiences or objects, has the power to reveal new perspectives and insights that are not immediately apparent in our everyday lives. By transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, literature invites us to see familiar things in a fresh light and encourages us to question, interpret, and appreciate them in deeper ways.

"The imagination may be defined as that which constructs images and experiences beyond the reach of the senses."

This quote by M. H. Abrams suggests that the human imagination is a powerful tool that allows us to create mental pictures and experiences that are not directly observable through our senses. It's the ability to conceive ideas, visualize scenarios, or imagine possibilities beyond our immediate physical reality. In other words, it's our capacity to think creatively, envision future states, and entertain ideas that may never be experienced in the real world. This concept is fundamental to human cognition, art, science, literature, and every aspect of human culture and progress.

"What we call poetry is a special case of a general human capacity for finding patterns in experience, a capacity that is not confined to poetry but gives meaning and value to all human experience."

This quote suggests that the ability to perceive patterns and make connections within experiences is a fundamental aspect of human nature, not exclusive to poetry. Poetry, in this context, is considered as a unique expression of this universal human capacity. This innate ability to discern patterns infuses all aspects of our lives with meaning and value, making it a significant part of our overall human experience.

The survival of artistic modes in which we recognize ourselves, identify ourselves and place ourselves will survive as long as humanity survives.

- M. H. Abrams

Survive, Which, Identify, Modes

The theories of the major philosophers of the 18th century secular enlightenment were biblical and theological in spite of themselves.

- M. H. Abrams

Enlightenment, Theological, 18th Century

We worked on solving the problem of voice communications in a noisy military environment. We established military codes that are highly audible and invented selection tests for personnel who had a superior ability to recognize sound in a noisy background.

- M. H. Abrams

Voice, Established, Codes, Noisy

Key metaphors help determine what and how we perceive and how we think about our perceptions.

- M. H. Abrams

Help, Think, How, Perceptions

John Updike is always fun. And one of my former students, Tom Pynchon. And Harold Bloom, another former student.

- M. H. Abrams

Student, Always, Another, Harold

The Romantics were whipping boys of the New Criticism, but they appealed to me anyway. I was recalcitrant. It was clear to me that they had thought innovatively.

- M. H. Abrams

Thought, New, Clear, Whipping

If you learn one thing from having lived through decades of changing views, it is that all predictions are necessarily false.

- M. H. Abrams

Learn, Through, Having, Decades

When I was a graduate student, the leading spirits at Harvard were interested in the history of ideas.

- M. H. Abrams

Graduation, Student, Leading, Harvard

Jews had an outsider's eye on a lot of Western tradition.

- M. H. Abrams

Eye, Jews, Lot, Outsider

It's amazing how, age after age, in country after country, and in all languages, Shakespeare emerges as incomparable.

- M. H. Abrams

Amazing, Country, How, Shakespeare

Secular thinkers have no more been able to work free of the centuries-old Judeo-Christian culture than Christian theologians were able to work free of their inheritance of classical and pagan thought. The process... has not been the deletion and replacement of religious ideas but rather the assimilation and reinterpretation of religious ideas.

- M. H. Abrams

Been, Religious, Theologians, Replacement

Hard work makes easy reading or, at least, easier reading.

- M. H. Abrams

Work, Makes, Least, Easy Reading

When something startlingly new comes up, young people, especially, seize it. You can't complain about that. I think its heyday has passed, but it's had an effect and will continue to have an effect.

- M. H. Abrams

Seize, Young, I Think, Complain

The first test any poem must pass is no longer, 'Is it true to nature?' but a criterion looking in a different direction: namely, 'Is it sincere? Is it genuine?'

- M. H. Abrams

Test, Pass, Criterion, Sincere

If you read quickly to get through a poem to what it means, you have missed the body of the poem.

- M. H. Abrams

Poetry, Through, Means, Poem

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