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
Asking an artist to talk about his work is like asking a plant to discuss horticulture.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artists often express their work in ways that are beyond verbal explanation, similar to how a plant cannot articulate its own growth and care.
This quote highlights the intrinsic challenge of articulating the creative process and emotional landscape of art. Just as a plant is rooted in its nature and does not possess the capacity or need to discuss horticulture, artists convey their experiences and emotions through their art rather than in words, making verbal explanations sometimes insufficient or even inappropriate.
Themes
ArtistArtCreativityExpressionCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker discussing the role of art in emotional expression during a conference.
More from Jean Cocteau
All quotes βOne must be a living man and a posthumous artist.
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All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it.
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Nothing ever gets anywhere. The earth keeps turning round and gets nowhere. The moment is the only thing that counts.
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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.
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Watch yourself all your life in a mirror and you'll see Death at work like bees in a glass hive.
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Similar quotes
The artist is of no importance. Only what he creates is important, since there is nothing new to be said. Shakespeare, Balzac, Homer have all written about the same things, and if they had lived one thousand or two thousand years longer, the publishers wouldn't have needed anyone since.
William FaulknerRead
Painting, like poetry, selects in the universe whatever she deems most appropriate to her ends. She assembles in a single fantastic personage, circumstances and features which nature distributes among many individuals. From this combination, ingeniously composed, results that happy imitation by virtue of which the artist earns the title of inventor and not of servile copyist.
Francisco GoyaRead
It helps me to learn things in different languages, even if it's just phonetically, and to make myself vulnerable to other audiences by trying to reflect back to them the genius of their own cultures, and to do that, oftentimes, in new jazz settings, new arrangements. It's a way to show respect.
Kurt EllingRead
Clothing is . . . an exercise in memory. It makes me explore the past: how did I feel when I wore that. They are like signposts in the search for the past.
Louise BourgeoisRead
I chose poetry. Actually, poetry chose me.
Joy HarjoRead
It is wonderful to be in on the creation of something, see it used, and then walk away and smile at it.
Lady Bird JohnsonRead