Overly critical people lack self-esteem and self-respect. This is why they are quick to criticize. The flaws they see in others are sometimes valid, and sometimes exaggerated or overstated (in defiance of the person’s strengths). It’s the reason they criticize which is so important. They must bring others down so that, in their own eyes, they are lifted. Nobody with self-respect and self-esteem would ever be tempted to do this. If you know what you’re good at, and what you’re weak at, and if you’re comfortable with yourself, then you will tend to be comfortable with other people too. Yes, you’ll be objective and honest when your appraisal is called for. But there’s a difference between being objective and being critical for its own sake. The critic for criticism’s sake has a negative view of himself more than the person he’s criticizing. His method and his motive are what give him away.