The ear disapproves but tolerates certain musical pieces; transfer them into the domain of our nose, and we will be forced to flee.
Jean CocteauRead
Beauty cannot be recognized with a cursory glance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True beauty requires deeper observation and understanding.
This quote by Jean Cocteau suggests that beauty is not something that can be fully appreciated or understood with a fleeting look; rather, it demands time and contemplation to reveal its true essence. It invites us to slow down and engage more profoundly with the world around us to uncover the layers of beauty that lie beneath the surface.
Themes
BeautyObservationArtUnderstandingDepth
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of art in education, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for deep engagement with artistic works.
More from Jean Cocteau
All quotes βOne must be a living man and a posthumous artist.
Jean CocteauRead
All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it.
Jean CocteauRead
Nothing ever gets anywhere. The earth keeps turning round and gets nowhere. The moment is the only thing that counts.
Jean CocteauRead
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 CocteauRead
Watch yourself all your life in a mirror and you'll see Death at work like bees in a glass hive.
Jean CocteauRead
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There are connoisseurs of blue just as there are connoisseurs of wine.
Sidonie Gabrielle ColetteRead
It needs great art, learning to play with one's own life, to play on one's own life. Meditation is the art to create music from your heart. Meditation is simply the method to transform noise into harmony, the method to shift your consciousness from the head to the heart. The head is noisy, it is all noise - a tale told by an idiot, full of fury and noise, signifying nothing.
RajneeshRead
It was thought, perception, sensations that interested her, the conscious mind as a river through time, and how to represent its onward roll, as well as all the tributaries that would swell it, and the obstacles that would divert it. If only she could reproduce the clear light of a summer's morning.
Ian McewanRead
Do not feel safe. The poet remembers._x000D_ You can kill one, but another is born._x000D_ The words are written down, the deed, the date.
Czeslaw MiloszRead
I was walking along a path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.
Edvard MunchRead
I've come to appreciate how special a song is compared to other art forms, because you can carry it around in your head and your heart, and it remains part of you. It just comes as natural as a bird to me, always did. It's the way singer-songwriters make sense of our lives.
Kris KristoffersonRead