Jean Cocteau Quotes

The Louvre is like the morgue; one goes there to identify one’s friends.

He has the manner of a giant with the look of a child, a lazy activeness, a mad wisdom, a solitude encompassing the world.

No se debe confundir la verdad con la opinión de la mayoría.

Be yourself. The world worships the original.

Children believe what we tell them. They have complete faith in us. They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can plunge a family into conflict. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this will cause him shame when a young maiden takes up residence in his home. They believe a thousand other simple things.

I ask of you a little of this childlike sympathy and, to bring us luck, let me speak four truly magic words, childhood’s “Open Sesame”:

Once upon a time…

A prig always finds a last refuge in responsibility.

The ear disapproves but tolerates certain musical pieces; transfer them into the domain of our nose, and we will be forced to flee.

Be a constant outrage to modesty There is nothing to fear: modesty is exercised only among the blind.

I am a lie who always speaks the truth.

We are in a period of such individualism that one no longer speaks of disciples; one speaks of thieves.

Living is a horizontal fall.

Les expériences dangereuses, le monde les accepte dans le domaine de l’art parce qu’il ne prend pas l’art au sérieux, mais il les condamne dans la vie.

To be moved confuses the soul. One cannot convey these kinds of memories any more than the events of a dream...
...if I have complained too long, it is because my memory, no longer having any fixed abode, has to carry its luggage with it.

„Wer mein Haus betreten will, der trete ein. Wem es hier gefällt, der bleibe. Ich weigere mich, etwas zu planen. Und wenn man mich fragt, was ich aus meinem Haus mitnehmen würde, wenn es brennt, antworte ich: das Feuer.

« Ce qui caractérise notre époque, c’est la crainte d’avoir l’air bête en décernant une louange, et la certitude d’avoir l’air intelligent en décernant un blâme. »