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"I haven't heard anyone quote. . .
Dylan wrote some good songs. Particularly good (with his delivery) were "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" and "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll". Others seemed better when performed by others. ("Bob Dylan's Dream" done by Peter, Paul & Mary, for example.)"
but.....
Dylan sold really well throughout the 60s and 70s; in fact his first two albums are about the only 60s ones that did not go gold. So, there was lots of people buying his music, then and now. It must have touched them. Plus, when the Byrds covered him, producers and record companies saw gold and opened up the studios to all kinds of new sounds.
"But the worship of this guy is out of control. Particularly among the critics, but also within the very narrow cultural segment where he appears to resonate. "
I would reply that the "very narrow cultural segment" (narrow relative to what?) you assume included most of the pop and rock musicians working in the mid-late 60s. And they (maybe not Neal Diamond, whose best work I also enjoy, especially while riding in my car on a spring day) passed it on to every young body in this country. You may not like Dylan's "delivery" or his later 60s music, but you can't deny his influence.
Can you?
