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
One of the characteristics of the dream is that nothing surprises us in it. With no regret, we agree to live in it with strangers, completely cut off from our habits and friends.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Dreams allow us to experience unfamiliarity without surprise or regret.
In this quote, Jean Cocteau reflects on the nature of dreams, highlighting that within our dream states, we are often unbothered by the presence of strangers and the absence of familiar comforts. We surrender ourselves to the dream experience, which offers a unique escape from reality, free from regret or recognition of our usual surroundings and relationships.
Themes
DreamsRealitySurpriseRegretStrangers
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the psychology of dreams, this quote can illustrate how we mentally construct experiences.
More from Jean Cocteau
All quotes →One 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
Similar quotes
Everyone in Life does Exactly what they Know How to Do Given the Conditions of their Lives
Wayne DyerRead
Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?
D.T. SuzukiRead
He had tenderness in his heart — ‘a soft place,’ as Nicholas Higgins called it; but he had some pride in concealing it; he kept it very sacred and safe, and was jealous of every circumstance that tried to gain admission. But if he dreaded exposure of his tenderness, he was equally desirous that all men should recognize his justice; and he felt that he had been unjust, in giving so scornful a hearing to anyone who had waited, with humble patience, for five hours, to speak to him.
Elizabeth GaskellRead
The mind remains undetermined in the great Void. Here the highest knowledge is unbounded. That which gives things their thusness cannot be delimited by things. So when we speak of 'limits', we remain confined to limited things. The limit of the unlimited is called 'fullness.' The limitlessness of the limited is called 'emptiness.' Tao is the source of both. But it is itself neither fullness nor emptiness
ZhuangziRead
Our government's got a war on drugs. That's certainly better than no drugs at all.
Kurt VonnegutRead
I hate to take compromises with a racing car. The more standard a car is, the more compromises you have to take.
Michael SchumacherRead