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.
JEAN COCTEAUAnything of any importance cannot help but be unrecognizable, since it bears no resemblance to anything already known.
More Jean Cocteau Quotes
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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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Tact in audacity is knowing how far you can go without going too far.
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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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Mirrors should think longer before they reflect.
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I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.
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Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.
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I have seafoam in my veins, I understand the language of waves.
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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 only way to kill death is through photography.
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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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All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it.
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I have not looked at a newspaper in twenty years; if one is brought into the room, I flee. This is not because I am indifferent but because one cannot follow every road.
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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 public is never pleased with what we do, wanting always a copy of what we have done.
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Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.
JEAN COCTEAU