Jean Cocteau Quotes

Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious.

One of the characteristics of the dream is that nothing surprises us in it. With no regret, we agree to live in it with strangers, completely cut off from our habits and friends.

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.

The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.

Style is a simple way of saying complicated things.

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

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

Nothing ever gets anywhere. The earth keeps turning round and gets nowhere. The moment is the only thing that counts.

I only fear the death of others. For me, true death is that of the people I love

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.

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

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

True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing.

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.

The worst tragedy for a poet is to be admired through being misunderstood.

Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal. Drugs, alcohol, or lies. Unable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort.

Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. We have ours, they have theirs. That is what's known as infinity.

A film is a petrified fountain of thought.

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 horticulture.

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

Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.