“The worst tragedy for a poet is to be admired through being misunderstood.”
Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker
Le Coq et l’Arlequin (1918)
Encarta http://encarta.msn.com/quote_561556245/Understanding_Being_misunderstood_by_someone_is_vexation.html
“The worst tragedy for a poet is to be admired through being misunderstood.”
Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker
Le Coq et l’Arlequin (1918)
“Being misunderstood is the measure of an artist, being understood is the measure of a man.”
Ron English (1959) American artist
Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)
“Every deep thinker is more afraid of being understood than of being misunderstood.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
“The point was to learn what it was we feared more: being misunderstood or being betrayed.”
Adam Levine (1979) singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer from the United States
Source: The Instructions
“You are happily being misunderstood in your use of the word "God."”
Sam Harris (1967) American author, philosopher and neuroscientist
Sam Harris in debate against Deepak Chopra on ABC Nightline (23 March 2010) "Does God Have a Future?"
2010s
“Enthusiats are used to being mocked, maligned and misunderstood. We don't really mind.”
Stephen Fry (1957) English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activist
Source: The Fry Chronicles
Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union
As quoted in Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do" by Peter McWilliams, from 2000 Years of Disbelief (1996) edited by James A Haught p. 817