Jean Cocteau

Explore inspiring quotes by Jean Cocteau, a remarkable figure whose words continue to inspire and motivate people around the world.

Total Quotes

Top Categories by Jean Cocteau

Discover the themes and topics this author explores most

art

7 quotes

death

6 quotes

poetry

5 quotes

success

3 quotes

truth

2 quotes

best

1 quotes

work

1 quotes

friendship

1 quotes

Featured Quotes by Jean Cocteau

Some of the most memorable quotes from this author

"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."

— Jean Cocteauart

"An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture."

— Jean Cocteauart

"Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail."

— Jean Cocteauart

"Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper."

— Jean Cocteauart

"Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious."

— Jean Cocteauart

"Art is not a pastime but a priesthood."

— Jean Cocteauart

All Quotes by Jean Cocteau

Browse all quotes from this author

"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."

-Jean Cocteau

artView Quote

"An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture."

-Jean Cocteau

artView Quote

"Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail."

-Jean Cocteau

artView Quote

"Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper."

-Jean Cocteau

artView Quote

"Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious."

-Jean Cocteau

artView Quote

"Art is not a pastime but a priesthood."

-Jean Cocteau

artView Quote

"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 Cocteau

artView Quote

"I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another."

-Jean Cocteau

bestView Quote

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

-Jean Cocteau

deathView Quote

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

-Jean Cocteau

deathView Quote

"You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive."

-Jean Cocteau

deathView Quote

"After the writer's death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter."

-Jean Cocteau

deathView Quote

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

-Jean Cocteau

deathView Quote

"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 Cocteau

deathView Quote

"The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event, one is always bewildered by their simplicity, their grandeur of design, and by that element of the bizarre which seems inherent in them."

-Jean Cocteau

designView Quote

"I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another."

-Jean Cocteau

friendshipView Quote

"All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it."

-Jean Cocteau

goodView Quote

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become its visible soul."

-Jean Cocteau

homeView Quote

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become its visible soul."

-Jean Cocteau

loveView Quote

"Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious."

-Jean Cocteau

marriageView Quote

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

-Jean Cocteau

moviesView Quote

"All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it."

-Jean Cocteau

musicView Quote

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become its visible soul."

-Jean Cocteau

petView Quote

"The poet doesn't invent. He listens."

-Jean Cocteau

poetryView Quote

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

-Jean Cocteau

poetryView Quote

"Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie."

-Jean Cocteau

poetryView Quote

"The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth."

-Jean Cocteau

poetryView Quote

"Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for."

-Jean Cocteau

poetryView Quote

"I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead."

-Jean Cocteau

sadView Quote

"The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If this fails, they try to poison you. If this fails too, the finish by loading honors on your head."

-Jean Cocteau

societyView Quote

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?"

-Jean Cocteau

successView Quote

"I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?"

-Jean Cocteau

successView Quote

"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 Cocteau

successView Quote

"I am a lie who always speaks the truth."

-Jean Cocteau

truthView Quote

"The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth."

-Jean Cocteau

truthView Quote

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

-Jean Cocteau

wisdomView Quote

"Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail."

-Jean Cocteau

workView Quote

Other Authors to Explore

Explore more inspiring authors

View All Authors

Jean Cocteau

Top Categories by Jean Cocteau

art

death

poetry

success

truth

best

work

friendship

Featured Quotes by Jean Cocteau

All Quotes by Jean Cocteau

"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."

"An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture."

"Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail."

"Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper."

"Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious."

"Art is not a pastime but a priesthood."

"The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up."

"I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another."

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

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

"You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive."

"After the writer's death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter."

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

"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."

"The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event, one is always bewildered by their simplicity, their grandeur of design, and by that element of the bizarre which seems inherent in them."

"I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another."

"All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it."

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become its visible soul."

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become its visible soul."

"Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious."

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

"All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it."

"I love cats because I enjoy my home and little by little, they become its visible soul."

"The poet doesn't invent. He listens."

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

"Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie."

"The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth."

"Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for."

"I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead."

"The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If this fails, they try to poison you. If this fails too, the finish by loading honors on your head."

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?"

"I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?"

"The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up."

"I am a lie who always speaks the truth."

"The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth."

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

"Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail."

Related Authors

Henry David Thoreau

Mitt Romney

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friedrich Nietzsche

Mahatma Gandhi

George Bernard Shaw

Albert Einstein

Thomas Jefferson

Jerry Saltz

Plato

Aristotle

Barack Obama

Oscar Wilde

Benjamin Franklin

John F. Kennedy

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Mark Twain

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Voltaire

Bertrand Russell

Other Authors to Explore

Zac Efron

Jasmine Guy

Alanis Morissette

Young Jeezy

Emily Post

John Heywood

Shirley Bassey

Michel Gondry

Christian Siriano