Poetry is indispensable – if I only knew what for.
JEAN COCTEAUWhat the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.
More Jean Cocteau Quotes
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The public is never pleased with what we do, wanting always a copy of what we have done.
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Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don’t like – then cultivate it. That’s the only part of your work that’s individual and worth keeping.
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There’s no such thing as love; only proof of love.
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Whatever the world condemns you for, make it your own. It is yourself.
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A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses.
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The artist is a kind of prison from which the works of art escape.
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French people are Italian people in a bad mood.
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Wealth is an inborn attitude of mind, like poverty. The pauper who has made his pile may flaunt his spoils, but cannot wear them plausibly.
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We shelter an angel within us. We must be the guardians of that angel.
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An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture.
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If it has to choose who is to be crucified, the crowd will always save Barabbas.
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Not only should you not accept a prize. You should not try to deserve one either.
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Youth can only assert itself through the conviction that its ventures surpass all others and resemble nothing.
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The speed of a runaway horse counts for nothing.
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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