QuoteProject
Poetry is indispensable - if I only knew what for.
Jean Cocteau
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Poetry is essential, but its exact purpose may be unclear.

Jean Cocteau's quote reflects the paradoxical nature of poetry, suggesting that while poetry plays a crucial role in human expression and understanding, its specific utility or purpose often eludes us. This highlights the intrinsic value of art, which may not always be easily defined but is nonetheless vital to our experience of life.

Themes

PoetryArtExpressionPurposeIndispensable

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be shared during a poetry reading to emphasize the enigmatic role of poetry.

More from Jean Cocteau

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.
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

Some may find them merely diverting melodies. Others may find them incitements to Red revolution. And who will say if either or both is wrong? Not I.
Pete SeegerRead
The secret to film is that it's an illusion.
George LucasRead
Technique does not constitute art. Nor is it a vague, fuzzy romantic quality known as ‘beauty,’ remote from the realities of everyday life. It is the depth and intensity of an artist’s experience that are the first importance in art.
Grant WoodRead
I started out as a poet. I've always been a poet since I was 7 or 8. And so I feel myself to be fundamentally a poet who got into writing novels.
Alice WalkerRead
A story is a living thing, it moves and shifts.
Pat ConroyRead
My early childhood equipped me really well for my portrait work: The quick encounter, where you are not going to know the subject for very long. These days I am much more comfortable with the fifteen minute relationship, than I am with a life long relationship.
Annie LeibovitzRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.