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 COCTEAUThe job of the poet (a job which can’t be learned) consists of placing those objects of the visible world which have become invisible due to the glue of habit, in an unusual position which strikes the soul and gives them a tragic force.
More Jean Cocteau Quotes
-
-
Youth can only assert itself through the conviction that its ventures surpass all others and resemble nothing.
JEAN COCTEAU -
May the devil himself splatter you with dung.
JEAN COCTEAU -
Anything of any importance cannot help but be unrecognizable, since it bears no resemblance to anything already known.
JEAN COCTEAU -
What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.
JEAN COCTEAU -
I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.
JEAN COCTEAU -
We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?
JEAN COCTEAU -
You have comfort. You don’t have luxury. And don’t tell me that money plays a part. The luxury I advocate has nothing to do with money. It cannot be bought. It is the reward of those who have NO Fear or Discomfort.
JEAN COCTEAU -
Elegance ceases to exist when it is noticed.
JEAN COCTEAU -
I only fear the death of others. For me, true death is that of the people I love.
JEAN COCTEAU -
Since these mysteries exceed my grasp, I shall pretend to have organized them.
JEAN COCTEAU -
Beauty cannot be recognized with a cursory glance.
JEAN COCTEAU -
Poetry is indispensable – if I only knew what for.
JEAN COCTEAU -
Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.
JEAN COCTEAU -
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 -
If it has to choose who is to be crucified, the crowd will always save Barabbas.
JEAN COCTEAU