Bill Wagner wrote:
 
>   Ego and arrogance seems to be the foundation
> of most art. Intellect often lacks the necessary spark of creativity.  Which
 
> may be what separates critics from creators.
 
These are both incredibly romantic notions: the poet as anti- or non-intellectual
ego combatting the withering forces of reason. Of course, they were probably bogus
in the Romantic era, too: Coleridge was one of the leading "critics" of his time,
and ego in Shelley, Blake or Wordsworth (not to mention Hemans) is, to put it
mildly, a complicated issue. Scores of 20th C writers have been shrewd critics,
and a number of critics have written impressive books.
 
Yeah, intellect often lacks creativity, but that shouldn't serve as a celebration
of dimwittedness.
 
Bill Freind