Jean Cocteau Quotes - Page 2

Beauty cannot be recognized with a cursory glance.

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.

The extreme limit of wisdom, that's what the public calls madness.

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.

Beauty makes one lose one's head. Poetry is born of this decapitation

Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.

Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.

May the devil himself splatter you with dung.

I've always preferred mythology to history. History is truth that becomes an illusion. Mythology is an illusion that becomes reality.

The eyes of the dead are closed gently; we also have to open gently the eyes of the living.

A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses.

Poetry is a religion with no hope.

The joy of the young is to disobey

Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.

Every day in the mirror I watch death at work.

Whatever the world condemns you for, make it your own. It is yourself.

Tact in audacity is knowing how far you can go without going too far.

Vivre est une chute horizontale. Life is a horizontal fall.

Appreciation of art is a moral erection, otherwise mere dilettantism.

Understand that some of your enemies are amongst your best friends.

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.

Picasso said that everything is a miracle, that it's a miracle that we don't dissolve in our baths.

Since these mysteries exceed my grasp, I shall pretend to have organized them.

My only politics have been friendship.

Whatever the public blames you for, cultivate it; it is yourself.