The poet, by composing poems, uses a language that is neither dead nor living, that few people speak, and few people understand We are the servants of an unknown force that lives within us, manipulates us, and dictates this language to us.
JEAN COCTEAUPoetry 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.
More Jean Cocteau Quotes
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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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A film is a petrified fountain of thought.
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It is excruciating to be an unbeliever with a spirit that is deeply religious.
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There’s no such thing as love; only proof of love.
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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.
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The only way to kill death is through photography.
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Art is science in the flesh.
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French people are Italian people in a bad mood.
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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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Do as the beautiful woman: see to your figure and your petticoats. Though, of course, I am not speaking literally.
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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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The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.
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We are in a period of such individualism that one no longer speaks of disciples; one speaks of thieves.
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After the writer’s death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter.
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Cultivate everything the critics hated in your first work – that’s what makes you unique.
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