Poetry is a religion without hope. The poet exhausts himself in its service, knowing that, in the long run, a masterpiece is nothing but the performance of a trained dog on very shaky ground.
Jean Cocteauone should always talk well about oneself! The word spreads around and in the end, noone remembers where it started
Jean CocteauThe 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.
Jean CocteauPoets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.
Jean Cocteau