Jean Cocteau Quotes


Tact in audacity consists in knowing how far we may go too far. Jean Cocteau Tact 133
Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying. Jean Cocteau Death 128
A good upbringing consists in hiding how much you think of yourself, and how little you think of others. Jean Cocteau Education 104
Life is a horizontal fall. Jean Cocteau Life 97
Style is a simple way of saying complicated things. Jean Cocteau Style 94
I love my cats because I love my home, and little by little they become its visible soul. Jean Cocteau Cats 94
If a hermit lives in a state of ecstasy, his lack of comfort becomes the height of comfort. He must relinquish it. Jean Cocteau Poverty 94
I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another. Jean Cocteau Friend 93
I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike? Jean Cocteau Success 91
I am a lie who always speaks the truth. Jean Cocteau DeceptionLying 91
Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for. Jean Cocteau Poetry 91
The extreme limit of wisdom--that is what the public calls madness. Jean Cocteau 87
The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event, one is always bewildered by their simplicity, their grandeur of design, and by that element of the bizarre which seems inherent in them. Jean Cocteau Design 85
The ear disapproves but tolerates certain musical pieces; transfer them into the domain of our nose, and we will be forced to flee. Jean Cocteau Certain 84
The worst tragedy for a poet is to be admired through being misunderstood. Jean Cocteau Admired 84
True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing. Jean Cocteau Habits 81
There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say them. Jean Cocteau Right 81
Art is not a pastime but a priesthood. Jean Cocteau art 78
Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper. Jean Cocteau art 78
The poet doesn't invent. He listens. Jean Cocteau Poetry 77
The smell of opium is the least stupid smell in the world. Jean Cocteau Drugs 77
The day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying. Jean Cocteau Death 77
We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like? Jean Cocteau Success 76
Art produces ugly things which frequently become beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time. Jean Cocteau Art 76
The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up. Jean Cocteau art 75
One of the characteristics of the dream is that nothing surprises us in it. With no regret, we agree to live in it with strangers, completely cut off from our habits and friends. Jean Cocteau Dreams 74
An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture. Jean Cocteau Art 73
There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This period does not last. He returns headlong to his beard. Jean Cocteau Men 72
A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses. Jean Cocteau Poetry 71
There are too many souls of wood not to love those wooden characters who do indeed have a soul. Jean Cocteau Characters 70
After the writer's death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter. Jean Cocteau Death 67
I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead. Jean Cocteau Death 66
Such is the role of poetry. It unveils, in the strict sense of the word. It lays bare, under a light which shakes off torpor, the surprising things which surround us and which our senses record mechanically. Jean Cocteau Poetry 66
Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious. Jean Cocteau art 66
Tact in audacity is knowing how far you can go without going too far. Jean Cocteau Audacity 66
A car can massage organs which no masseur can reach. It is the one remedy for the disorders of the great sympathetic nervous system. Jean Cocteau Automobiles 66
Every poem is a coat of arms. It must be deciphered. How much blood how many tears in exchange for these axes these muzzles these unicorns these torches these towers these martlets these seedlings of stars and these fields of blue Jean Cocteau Blood 65
What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you. Jean Cocteau Criticism 64
What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you. Jean Cocteau Criticism 64
To be audacious with tact, you have to know to what point you can go too far. Jean Cocteau Manners 64
Of course I believe in luck. How otherwise to explain the success of some people you detest? Jean Cocteau Luck 64
Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie. Jean Cocteau Poetry 64
Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death. Jean Cocteau Death 64
The joy of the young is to disobey – but the trouble is that there are no longer any orders. Jean Cocteau Youth 63
The poet never asks for admiration; he wants to be believed. Jean Cocteau Admiration 63
An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order to be original. Jean Cocteau Imitation 61
The extreme limit of wisdom, that's what the public calls madness. Jean Cocteau Wisdom 61
Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time. Jean Cocteau Art 61
I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul. Jean Cocteau Pet 61
Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal. Drugs, alcohol, or lies. Unable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort. Jean Cocteau Escape 57

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Jean Cocteau Quotes

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