Jean Cocteau

Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmaker.

Cocteau is best known for his novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929), and the films Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orpheus (1949).

Jean Cocteau Quotes

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

– John Cocteau
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An artist cannot talk about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture.
~Jean Cocteau

Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don’t like – then cultivate it. That’s the only part of your work that’s individual and worth keeping.
~Jean Cocteau
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Life is a horizontal fall.
– Jean Cocteau
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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.
– Jean Cocteau
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Mirrors should think longer before they reflect.
~Jean Cocteau

One sits down first; one thinks afterwards.
– Jean Cocteau
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Poetry is a religion with no hope.
– Jean Cocteau
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Tact consists in knowing how far to go to far.
– Jean Cocteau
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The prettiest dresses are worn to be taken off.
– Jean Cocteau
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The greatest masterpiece in literature is only a dictionary out of order.
– Jean Cocteau
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To write is to kill something to death.
– Jean Cocteau
We must believe in luck.  For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?
– Jean Cocteau