Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the same effect of youth and freshness and originality and spontaneity as it did originally, and you have done a poet's job. The rest is literature.

Quote by Jean Cocteau

Topics: Jobs Quotes, Literature Quotes, Poetry Quotes

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

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

What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.

What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.

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...

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

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

The day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me,...

The day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me,...

I am a lie who always speaks the truth.

I am a lie who always speaks the truth.

Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.

Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.

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.

You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it...

You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it...

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

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

Commissions suit me. They set limits. Jean Marais dared me to write play in which...

Commissions suit me. They set limits. Jean Marais dared me to write play in which...

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.

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.

An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order...

An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order...

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...

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.

The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event,...

The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event,...

If a hermit lives in a state of ecstasy, his lack of comfort becomes the...

If a hermit lives in a state of ecstasy, his lack of comfort becomes the...

The ear disapproves but tolerates certain musical pieces; transfer them into the domain of our...

The ear disapproves but tolerates certain musical pieces; transfer them into the domain of our...

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.