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
Be a mere assistant to your unconscious. Do only half the work. The rest will do itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Trust your instincts and let your subconscious mind guide your actions.
This quote by Jean Cocteau emphasizes the importance of allowing your subconscious mind to take over part of the creative process. By being a mere assistant to your unconscious, you can tap into deeper thoughts and feelings, enabling a more authentic and effortless expression of ideas and creativity.
Themes
UnconsciousCreativityInstinctsEffortTrust
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about embracing creativity, one might say, 'Remember, as Jean Cocteau said, be a mere assistant to your unconscious.'
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
Similar quotes
You don't have to wear a label to be important.
Ralph LaurenRead
What happened to the writer is not what matters; what matters is the large sense that the writer is able to make of what happened.
Vivian GornickRead
A falcon who chases a warlike crane can only hope for a life of pain.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isnβt you - all of the expectations, all of the beliefs - and becoming who you are.
Rachel Naomi RemenRead
There is a courageous wisdom; there is also a false, reptile prudence, the result not of caution but of fear.
Edmund BurkeRead
We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.
Richard RohrRead