Where does this come from?

I was reading a book on Chinese history last night, and came across this:

"????????????????????????????? ???????????? ??????
?????????"

Translation: "Some criticize Chinese characters as words for poetry. Since they lack precision and refinement, they cannot precisely present narratives and logical arguments. Cannot even describe in depth feelings."

Anyone heard about this? What is the basis of this criticism? Is it because we have no alphabet, so we cannot make up new words like we do in English, and we don't conjugate? So...less "flexibility"?

Edited: used a superior translation