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 COCTEAUYouth is certain what it rejects before it knows what it will accept.
More Jean Cocteau Quotes
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It is excruciating to be an unbeliever with a spirit that is deeply religious.
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We shelter an angel within us. We must be the guardians of that angel.
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Since these mysteries exceed my grasp, I shall pretend to have organized them.
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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.
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If it has to choose who is to be crucified, the crowd will always save Barabbas.
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One must not mistake majority for truth.
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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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The extreme limit of wisdom, that’s what the public calls madness.
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Mirrors should think longer before they reflect.
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Not only should you not accept a prize. You should not try to deserve one either.
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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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Poetry is a religion with no hope.
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We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?
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Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.
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What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.
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