“We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?”
On his election to Académie Française (1955) Variant translation: Of course I believe in luck. How else does one explain the successes of one's enemies?
Jean Cocteau: Likeness
Jean Cocteau was French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker. Explore interesting quotes on likeness.Jean Cocteau: 246 quotes23 likes
“That pile of paper on his left side went on living like the watch on a dead soldier’s wrist.”
On his visit to the deathbed of Marcel Proust, as quoted in "Cocteau: The Great Enchanter" by Edmund White Vogue (May 1984)
“Originality consists in trying to be like everybody else — and failing.”
Raymond Radiguet, who was quoted by Cocteau in his acceptance speech to the Académie Française (October 1955)
Misattributed
“After the writer’s death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter.”
On the journal of Franz Kafka; diary entry (7 June 1953); Past Tense: Diaries Vol. 2 (1988)
As quoted by Ned Rorem The Dick Cavett Show (PBS) (6 October 1981)
“The Louvre is like the morgue; one goes there to identify one’s friends.”
"Le Secret Professionnel" in Le Rappel à l’Ordre (1922; 1926)
As quoted by Roger Shattuck in "A Native Son of Paris", Jean Cocteau and the French Scene (1984)
Variant: The Louvre is a morgue; you go there to identify your friends.
Les Enfants Terribles translation by Rosamond Lehmann (1929)