"The Louvre is like the morgue; one goes there to identify one’s friends."

Jean Cocteau Literature See all quotes by Jean Cocteau →

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“Art is science made clear.”

“Look out! Be on your guard, because alone of all the arts, music moves all around you.”

“Expect neither reward nor beatitude. Return noble waves for ignoble.”

“Do as the beautiful woman: see to your figure and your petticoats. Though, of course, I am not speaking literally.”

“Poetry is indispensable — if I only knew what for.”

“Such is the role of poetry. It unveils, in the strict sense of the word. It lays bare, under a light which shakes off torpor, the surprising things which surround us and which our senses record mechanically.”

Resonant Thoughts

"In fact, honour, duty and love of one’s own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force. I could never conceive that an armed resistance to an aggression …"

— Nathuram Godse

Politics1910–1949

#friendship

"My Brothers, the Masters of Wisdom, are scheduled to make Their group return to the everyday world. As Their Leader, I, as one of Them, do likewise. Many there are throughout the world who call Me, be…"

— Benjamin Creme

Art1922–2016

#leadership

"I awoke from The Sickness at the age of forty-five, calm and sane, and in reasonably good health except for a weakened liver and the look of borrowed flesh common to all who survive The Sickness... Wh…"

— William S. Burroughs

Literature1914–1997

#philosophy

"If it is said that the war is won, it would perhaps be more accurate to say that there is a lull in the storm. At the very least, it is necessary to provide for all eventualities. Recent discoveries h…"

— Georges Clemenceau

Politics1841–1929

#war