Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for.

Quote by Jean Cocteau

Topics: Jean Cocteau Quotes

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

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

The course of a river is almost always disapproved of by the source.

The course of a river is almost always disapproved of by the source.

Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. We have ours, they...

Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. We have ours, they...

Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death....

Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death....

There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This...

There is always a period when a man with a beard shaves it off. This...

A film is a petrified fountain of thought.

A film is a petrified fountain of thought.

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

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

Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward...

Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward...

Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.

Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.

One of the characteristics of the dream is that nothing surprises us in it. With...

One of the characteristics of the dream is that nothing surprises us in it. With...

The poet never asks for admiration; he wants to be believed.

The poet never asks for admiration; he wants to be believed.

I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy...

I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy...

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

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

The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so...

The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so...

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

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

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.

Life is a horizontal fall.

Life is a horizontal fall.

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

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

It is not I who become addicted, it is my body.

It is not I who become addicted, it is my body.

Silence moves faster when it's going backward.

Silence moves faster when it's going backward.