--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is indispensable --if I only knew…" description: "\"Poetry is indispensable --if I only knew what for.\" — Jean Cocteau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/jean-cocteau-1181_indispensable_poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-w_2394496.jpg" --- # Poetry is indispensable --if I only knew what for. ![“Poetry is indispensable --if I only knew what for.” quote by Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/jean-cocteau-1181_indispensable_poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-w_2394496.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/jean-cocteau-1181_indispensable_poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-w_2394496.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/jean-cocteau-1181_indispensable_poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-w_2394496.jpg) > “Poetry is indispensable --if I only knew what for.” [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement suggests poetry is essential, yet the speaker admits ignorance of its purpose, highlighting a paradox of necessity without understanding. **In simple terms:** Poetry feels essential, but its purpose remains unclear. Key Takeaway Explore why poetry feels vital despite unclear purpose. Themes art necessity paradox creativity Mood curious introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - education - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - What makes poetry indispensable? - How can we uncover poetry’s purpose? A Different Perspective It may be vague and unhelpful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Indispensable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indispensable/) [Indispensable Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indispensable-knew-5975519/) [Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry Indispensable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-indispensable-2502198/) ## Related quotes > [I know that poetry is indispensable, but to what I could not say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-know-that-poetry-is-indispensable-but-to-what-i-could-not-say/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [There is an idealism associated with poetry I would not dispel but question. It doesn't change anything except within. It shifts your insides around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-wright/there-is-an-idealism-associated-with-poetry-i-would-not-dispel-but/) [C.D. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-wright/) > [In general, in poetry and literature, I am among those people who believe that too much is indispensable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-yevtushenko/in-general-in-poetry-and-literature-i-am-among-those-people-who/) [Yevgeny Yevtushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-yevtushenko/) > [...the science of calculation also is indispensable as far as the extraction of the square and cube roots: Algebra as far as the quadratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-science-of-calculation-also-is-indispensable-as-far-as-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A book is a silent teacher, and a precious and indispensable companion in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-book-is-a-silent-teacher-and-a-precious-and-indispensable-companion/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [I was depressed. I knew I was lost, but I had no idea how to find myself again. It was as though I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/i-was-depressed-i-knew-i-was-lost-but-i-had-no-idea-how-to-find/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [We must understand that God does not "love" us without liking us - through gritted teeth - as "Christian" love is sometimes thought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/we-must-understand-that-god-does-not-love-us-without-liking-us/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one's happiness to express.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/one-writes-because-one-has-a-burning-desire-to-objectify-what-it-is/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [The dictatorship of the proletariat and the leadership of the Marxist-Leninist party are indispensable conditions for the triumph of the Socialist revolution and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/the-dictatorship-of-the-proletariat-and-the-leadership-of-the-marxist/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [In the formation of such a government, it is not only the right, but the indispensable duty of every citizen to examine the principles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/in-the-formation-of-such-a-government-it-is-not-only-the-right-but/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [Farmers are the only indispensable people on the face of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-zhaoxing/farmers-are-the-only-indispensable-people-on-the-face-of-the-earth/) [Li Zhaoxing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-zhaoxing/) > [Secrecy is as indispensable to human beings as fire, and as greatly feared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sissela-bok/secrecy-is-as-indispensable-to-human-beings-as-fire-and-as-greatly/) [Sissela Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sissela-bok/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fortunately, like most children, I had learned what is most valuable, most indispensable for life before school years began, taught by apple trees, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/fortunately-like-most-children-i-had-learned-what-is-most-valuable/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jean Cocteau > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I am happy to exhibit, but not to put myself on exhibition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-am-happy-to-exhibit-but-not-to-put-myself-on-exhibition/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-believe-in-luck-how-else-can-you-explain-the-success-of-those-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-have-a-piece-of-great-and-sad-news-to-tell-you-i-am-dead/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Fight any instinct to be humorless, for humorlessness is the worst of all absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/fight-any-instinct-to-be-humorless-for-humorlessness-is-the-worst-of/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lying is the only art form that the public sanctions and instinctively prefers to reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lying-is-the-only-art-form-that-the-public-sanctions-and/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-dead-drug-leaves-a-ghost-behind-at-certain-hours-it-haunts-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“Vivre est une chute horizontale”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/vivre-est-une-chute-horizontale/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I expect a black silence that is almost as violent as laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-expect-a-black-silence-that-is-almost-as-violent-as-laughter/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [My method is simple: not to bother about poetry. It must come of its own accord. Merely whispering its name drives it away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/my-method-is-simple-not-to-bother-about-poetry-it-must-come-of-its/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If a poet has a dream, it is not of becoming famous, but of being believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/if-a-poet-has-a-dream-it-is-not-of-becoming-famous-but-of-being/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lack of manners is the sign of a hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lack-of-manners-is-the-sign-of-a-hero/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-the-public-criticizes-in-you-cultivate-it-is-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/here-i-am-trying-to-live-or-rather-i-am-trying-to-teach-the-death/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) [Explore all 255 Jean Cocteau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## More Indispensable quotes > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fortunately, like most children, I had learned what is most valuable, most indispensable for life before school years began, taught by apple trees, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/fortunately-like-most-children-i-had-learned-what-is-most-valuable/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Secrecy is as indispensable to human beings as fire, and as greatly feared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sissela-bok/secrecy-is-as-indispensable-to-human-beings-as-fire-and-as-greatly/) [Sissela Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sissela-bok/) > [In general, in poetry and literature, I am among those people who believe that too much is indispensable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-yevtushenko/in-general-in-poetry-and-literature-i-am-among-those-people-who/) [Yevgeny Yevtushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-yevtushenko/) > [Farmers are the only indispensable people on the face of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-zhaoxing/farmers-are-the-only-indispensable-people-on-the-face-of-the-earth/) [Li Zhaoxing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-zhaoxing/) > [In the formation of such a government, it is not only the right, but the indispensable duty of every citizen to examine the principles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/in-the-formation-of-such-a-government-it-is-not-only-the-right-but/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [The dictatorship of the proletariat and the leadership of the Marxist-Leninist party are indispensable conditions for the triumph of the Socialist revolution and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/the-dictatorship-of-the-proletariat-and-the-leadership-of-the-marxist/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one's happiness to express.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/one-writes-because-one-has-a-burning-desire-to-objectify-what-it-is/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [We must understand that God does not "love" us without liking us - through gritted teeth - as "Christian" love is sometimes thought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/we-must-understand-that-god-does-not-love-us-without-liking-us/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [I was depressed. I knew I was lost, but I had no idea how to find myself again. It was as though I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/i-was-depressed-i-knew-i-was-lost-but-i-had-no-idea-how-to-find/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [A book is a silent teacher, and a precious and indispensable companion in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-book-is-a-silent-teacher-and-a-precious-and-indispensable-companion/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [...the science of calculation also is indispensable as far as the extraction of the square and cube roots: Algebra as far as the quadratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-science-of-calculation-also-is-indispensable-as-far-as-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. Those who continually search for happiness will never find it. Happiness is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/they-must-often-change-who-would-be-constant-in-happiness-or-wisdom/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Fun, fighting, and feeding! These are the three indispensable elements of the boy's world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baden-powell-de-aquino/fun-fighting-and-feeding-these-are-the-three-indispensable-elements/) [Baden Powell de Aquino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baden-powell-de-aquino/) [Browse all 630 Indispensable quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indispensable/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry is indispensable --if I only knew what for.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean Cocteau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-what-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Indispensable" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-what-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/jean-cocteau-1181_indispensable_poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-w_2394496.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/jean-cocteau-1181_indispensable_poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-w_2394496.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/jean-cocteau-1181_indispensable_poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-w_2394496.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetry is indispensable --if I only knew what for.” — Jean Cocteau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jean Cocteau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poetry is indispensable --if I only...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-what-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/poetry-is-indispensable-if-i-only-knew-what-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```