When a work appears to be ahead of its time, it is only the time that is behind the work.

Quote by Jean Cocteau

Topics: Jean Cocteau Quotes

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,...

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...

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...

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...

I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you don't...

I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you don't...

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...

Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.

Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.

Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other...

Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other...

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.

We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those...

We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those...

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...

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

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

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

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

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...

Style is a simple way of saying complicated things.

Style is a simple way of saying complicated things.

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...

There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say...

There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say...

If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600...

If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600...

Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it

Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it

Nothing is true, but that which is simple.

Nothing is true, but that which is simple.