More from Jean Cocteau
Whatever the world condemns you for, make it your own. It is yourself.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau The public is never pleased with what we do, wanting always a copy of what we have done.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau 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 CocteauJean Cocteau 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.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau Poetry, being elegance itself, cannot hope to achieve visibility… It insists on living its own life.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau I only fear the death of others. For me, true death is that of the people I love.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau Poetry is a religion with no hope.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau Art is science in the flesh.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau Fight any instinct to be humorless, for humorlessness is the worst of all absurdities.
Jean CocteauJean 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 CocteauJean Cocteau And now I have to confess the unpardonable and the scandalous. I am a happy man. And I am going to tell you the secret of my happiness. It is quite simple. I love mankind. I love love. I hate hate. I try to understand and accept.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau Elegance ceases to exist when it is noticed.
Jean CocteauJean Cocteau
Original quotes
From our community writers
Someone rejected you does not mean you are not worthy. Maybe they can’t afford to be with you.
Jacklyn TysonJacklyn Tyson I will love you from afar it’s better this way because close up it hurts too much.
Melissa AndersonMelissa Anderson Maybe if you hold me tight, our love won’t be as shallow.
Mira R. AridiMira R. Aridi Sometimes a person is in peace & in the piece at the same time.
Jessica CollinsJessica Collins Between day and night there was a moment of silence.
Frode GaslandFrode Gasland But doesn’t it hurt to feel so much and pretend not to?
Brad NeatonBrad Neaton Admire your sweet way of glowing; your passionate way of flowing.
Ana SoulfulAna Soulful Darling, you are a warrior, for even though each day feels like a battle, you keep fighting and live on.
Sarah ShawkatSarah Shawkat
Meet the writers
More on poetry
A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.
Leonard CohenLeonard Cohen Painting is silent poetry.
PlutarchPlutarch Poetry makes life what lights and music do the stage.
Charles DickensCharles Dickens Rainbows of emotions ring our hearts to enjoy and feel songs of love’s cappuccino yearning to be a poetic vow!
Deepali SinghviDeepali Singhvi That’s poetic in its malevolence.
Jordan PetersonJordan Peterson Words build bridges into unexplored regions.
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler As the last cold drops of rain splattered across my face; I watched the dark, ominous clouds fade away; undressing an amalgam of exquisite colors. My soul blushed. The rainbow was warm, beautiful, and poetic. Like a love letter from god.
Hamilton K. AmadiHamilton K. Amadi
