A. Richards (Ivor Armstrong Richards, 26 February 1893 7 September 1979) was an influential English literary critic and rhetorician.

In the words of the Roman rhetorician Quintilian Simonides has a simple style, but he can be commended for the aptness of his language and for a certain charm his chief merit, however, lies in the power to excite pity, so much so that some prefer him in this respect to all other writers of the genre.