Skip to content

Jean Cocteau on Poetry

1889–1963 France

← All quotes by Jean Cocteau

4 quotes

The worst fate of a poet is to be admired without being understood.

Le Rappel á l'ordre (1926)

Poetry is indispensable — if I only knew what for.

The Necessity of Art (1959)

Poets don’t draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently.

Dessins (1924)

A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses.

A Call to Order (1926)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Jean Cocteau (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.