I know that poetry is indispensable, but to what I could not say.
JEAN COCTEAUWhen I write, I disturb. When I show a film, I disturb. When I exhibit my painting, I disturb, and I disturb if I don’t. I have a knack for disturbing.
More Jean Cocteau Quotes
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A film is a petrified fountain of thought.
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Poetry, being elegance itself, cannot hope to achieve visibility… It insists on living its own life.
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All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it.
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Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.
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It is not I who become addicted, it is my body.
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The 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.
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The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.
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My method is simple: not to bother about poetry. It must come of its own accord. Merely whispering its name drives it away.
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Poetry is a religion without hope. The poet exhausts himself in its service, knowing that, in the long run, a masterpiece is nothing but the performance of a trained dog on very shaky ground.
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An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order to be original.
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Living is a horizontal fall.
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The speed of a runaway horse counts for nothing.
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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.
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May the devil himself splatter you with dung.
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We shelter an angel within us. We must be the guardians of that angel.
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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.
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The eyes of the dead are closed gently; we also have to open gently the eyes of the living.
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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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Mirrors should think longer before they reflect.
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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.
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Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.
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It is difficult to live without opium after having known it because it is difficult, after knowing opium, to take earth seriously. And unless one is a saint, it is difficult to live without taking earth seriously.
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Elegance ceases to exist when it is noticed.
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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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I have seafoam in my veins, I understand the language of waves.
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When I write, I disturb. When I show a film, I disturb. When I exhibit my painting, I disturb, and I disturb if I don’t. I have a knack for disturbing.
JEAN COCTEAU