--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only work of art which succeeds is…" description: "\"The only work of art which succeeds is that which fails.\" — Jean Cocteau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jean-cocteau-1181_art_the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-t_2757574.jpg" --- # The only work of art which succeeds is that which fails. ![“The only work of art which succeeds is that which fails.” quote by Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jean-cocteau-1181_art_the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-t_2757574.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jean-cocteau-1181_art_the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-t_2757574.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jean-cocteau-1181_art_the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-t_2757574.jpg) > “The only work of art which succeeds is that which fails.” [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. Art that embraces failure reveals deeper truth and authenticity, making it successful in impact. **In simple terms:** Failure can be the key to true artistic success. Key Takeaway Embrace risk and let failure guide creativity. Themes creativity authenticity risk expression Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - painting - writing - performance art - personal projects Key Concepts Existentialism Aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn a perceived failure into a creative breakthrough? - What does “success” mean in your artistic practice? A Different Perspective Success may be fleeting if not grounded in genuine expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes one succeeds, sometimes one fails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/sometimes-one-succeeds-sometimes-one-fails/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“Such a man is the same whether his work succeeds or fails.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/such-a-man-is-the-same-whether-his-work-succeeds-or-fails/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Rashness succeeds often, still more often fails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/rashness-succeeds-often-still-more-often-fails/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Prayer succeeds when all else fails](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/prayer-succeeds-when-all-else-fails/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [Where there's liberty, art succeeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/where-there-s-liberty-art-succeeds/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Audacity succeeds as often as it fails; in life it has an even chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/audacity-succeeds-as-often-as-it-fails-in-life-it-has-an-even-chance/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [Art, and, above all, music, has a fundamental function, which is to catalyze the sublimation that it can bring about through all means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iannis-xenakis/art-and-above-all-music-has-a-fundamental-function-which-is-to/) [Iannis Xenakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iannis-xenakis/) > [It does not follow, that because a particular work of art succeeds in charming us, its creator also deserves our admiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/it-does-not-follow-that-because-a-particular-work-of-art-succeeds-in/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [When something succeeds, we learn little more from it than that it did succeed. When something fails, however, we are driven to try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-petroski/when-something-succeeds-we-learn-little-more-from-it-than-that-it-did/) [Henry Petroski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-petroski/) > [No one fails alone and no one succeeds alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-thomas/no-one-fails-alone-and-no-one-succeeds-alone/) [Eric Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-thomas/) > [It would seem that the ant works its way tentatively, and, observing where it fails, tries another place and succeeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-jefferies/it-would-seem-that-the-ant-works-its-way-tentatively-and-observing/) [Richard Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-jefferies/) > [“Although any collective answer to my question remains to be seen, personally I feel quite certain of it. Because if there’s one thing I’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-burton/although-any-collective-answer-to-my-question-remains-to-be-seen/) [Jessie Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-burton/) > [“A piece of art only succeeds when it's creator...possesses the belief that brings it into being”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-burton/a-piece-of-art-only-succeeds-when-it-s-creator-possesses-the-belief/) [Jessie Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-burton/) > [“The only meaningful measure for a leader is whether the team succeeds or fails. For”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocko-willink/the-only-meaningful-measure-for-a-leader-is-whether-the-team-succeeds/) [Jocko Willink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocko-willink/) > [Unless the work of art has wholly exhausted its maker's attention, it fails. This is why works of great significance are demanding and why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/unless-the-work-of-art-has-wholly-exhausted-its-maker-s-attention-it/) [Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/) ## 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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only work of art which succeeds is that which fails.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean Cocteau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-that-which-fails/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-that-which-fails/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jean-cocteau-1181_art_the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-t_2757574.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jean-cocteau-1181_art_the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-t_2757574.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e82/jean-cocteau-1181_art_the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-t_2757574.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only work of art which succeeds is that which fails.” — 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": "The only work of art which...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-that-which-fails/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-only-work-of-art-which-succeeds-is-that-which-fails/#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 } } ] } ```