Jean Cocteau Quotes

The only thing you can really say in a poem is what you really, really deeply believe.

In fact, in lyric poetry, truthfulness becomes recognizable as a ring of truth within the medium itself.

The first question at that time in poetry was simply the question of honesty, of sincerity.

It's when you begin to lie to yourself in a poem in order to simply make a poem, that you fail.

For a creative writer possession of the 'truth' is less important than emotional sincerity.

To be a poet is as serious, long-term and natural as the effort to be the best human you can be. To express something well is not a question of having a top-class education and understanding poetic forms: rather, it's a question of paying attention.

There are two types of poets: People who write poetically about their lives, and poets that live poetically and write about it.

The poet nothing affirmeth and therefore never lieth.

The first test any poem must pass is no longer, 'Is it true to nature?' but a criterion looking in a different direction: namely, 'Is it sincere? Is it genuine?'

A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain.

I have always tried to believe what I said and say what I believe and I still do that.

I say what I say because I believe it from the bottom of my soul and I can back it up.

You do your best to tell your own story, in the most specific way, and then you hope that that travels well, when it's done with heart and honesty.

A poet's first contract is with truth.

You may repeat the most marvelous poems. And that is not worth a cent if you don't live it.

Poetry is, above all, an approach to the truth of feeling.

Much of our poetry has the very best manners, but no character.

A lyric has to mean something to me, something that has happened to me.

There's nothing harder than going on TV and saying something that you don't believe. I don't do that anymore.

I am quite certain in my heart of hearts that modern music and modern art is not a conspiracy, but is a form of truth and integrity for those who practise it honestly, decently and with all their being.

I want that every piece of art be honest, never mind what it is about.

No more pronouncements on lousy verse. No more hidden competition. No more struggling not to be a square.

The Centre is very important to me; it's about trust - about truth.

I seem most instinctively to believe in the human value of creative writing, whether in the form of verse or fiction, as a mode of truth-telling, self-expression and homage to the twin miracles of creation and consciousness.

That's what I'd like to think that my reputation is - being honest.