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 must be a living man and a posthumous artist.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A true artist must live fully in the present while also creating works that transcend their own lifetime.
This quote by Jean Cocteau suggests that to be an authentic artist, one needs to engage deeply with life and experiences, allowing that vitality to inform their artistry. Cocteau emphasizes the duality of existence; an artist must not only embrace their life and surroundings but also create art that speaks beyond their own existence, achieving a lasting legacy after they are gone.
Themes
ArtLifeLegacyCreativityExpression
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a speech about the importance of creativity in personal development.
More from Jean Cocteau
All quotes βAll 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
You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive.
Jean CocteauRead
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I who once wrote songs with keen delight am now by sorrow driven to take up melancholy measures. Wounded Muses tell me what I must write, and elegiac verses bathe my face with real tears. Not even terror could drive from me these faithful companions of my long journey. Poetry, which was once the glory of my happy and flourishing youth, is still my comfort in this misery of my old age.
BoethiusRead
A successful novel should interrupt the readerβs life, make him or her miss appointments, skip meals, forget to walk the dog.
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It is a pity to make a mystery out of what should most easily be understood. There is nothing occult about the thought that all things maybe made well or made ill. A work of art is a well-made thing - that is all. It may be a well-made statue of a well-made chair or a well-made book. Art is not a special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it is the cooking itself that is good. Most simply and generally, Art may be thought of as "The Well Doing of What Needs Doing."
Oscar WildeRead
He has Van Gogh's ear for music.
Billy WilderRead
In the Led Zeppelin shows of the Sixties and Seventies, it was the same numbers every night, but they were constantly in a state of flux. If I played something good, really substantial, I'd stick it in again.
Jimmy PageRead