The poet doesn't invent. He listens.

Quote by Jean Cocteau

Topics: Jean Cocteau Quotes

I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its...

I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its...

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...

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

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

If it has to choose who is to be crucified, the crowd will always save...

If it has to choose who is to be crucified, the crowd will always save...

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.

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.

Style is a simple way of saying complicated things.

Style is a simple way of saying complicated things.

Life is a horizontal fall.

Life is a horizontal fall.

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.

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...

Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not...

Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not...

All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects...

All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects...

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....

Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the...

Take a commonplace, clean it and polish it, light it so that it produces the...

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...

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

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

Asking an artist to talk about his work is like asking a plant to discuss...

Asking an artist to talk about his work is like asking a plant to discuss...

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 Christian churches and Christianity have nothing in common save in name: they are utterly...

The Christian churches and Christianity have nothing in common save in name: they are utterly...

And nothing can we call our own but death And that small model of the...

And nothing can we call our own but death And that small model of the...