“The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up.”
Art
“A film is a petrified fountain of thought.”
MoviesAll Quotes by Jean Cocteau
“A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses.”
Poetry“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.”
Death“Emotion resulting from a work of art is only of value when it is not obtained by sentimental blackmail.”
Art“Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie.”
Poetry“Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for.”
Poetry“A film is a petrified fountain of thought.”
Movies“The day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.”
Death“We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?”
Success“Since the day of my birth, my death began its walk. It is walking toward me, without hurrying.”
Death“You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive.”
Death“The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If this fails, they try to poison you. If this fails too, the finish by loading honors on your head.”
Society“Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.”
Death“Art is not a pastime but a priesthood.”
Art“I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another.”
Best“The extreme limit of wisdom, that's what the public calls madness.”
Wisdom“The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event, one is always bewildered by their simplicity, their grandeur of design, and by that element of the bizarre which seems inherent in them.”
Design“I am a lie who always speaks the truth.”
Truth“An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture.”
Art“I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?”
Success