--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whatever the public blames you for…" description: "\"Whatever the public blames you for, cultivate it; it is yourself.\" — Jean Cocteau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/jean-cocteau-1181_blame_whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-culti_2698930.jpg" --- # Whatever the public blames you for, cultivate it; it is… ![“Whatever the public blames you for, cultivate it; it is yourself.” quote by Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/jean-cocteau-1181_blame_whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-culti_2698930.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/jean-cocteau-1181_blame_whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-culti_2698930.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/jean-cocteau-1181_blame_whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-culti_2698930.jpg) > “Whatever the public blames you for, cultivate it; it is yourself.” [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. Encourages embracing public criticism as part of oneself, turning external blame into self‑knowledge. **In simple terms:** Turn public blame into self‑knowledge. Key Takeaway Use criticism for self‑growth. Themes self‑awareness criticism identity Mood reflective candid Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - public life - creative work - personal development - social media Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does criticism shape you? - Can you separate blame from self? A Different Perspective Criticism can be harmful if internalized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gay/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [trust me, Anita, if you get dead, especially if he blames himself in any way, he will be a force of destruction looking for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/trust-me-anita-if-you-get-dead-especially-if-he-blames-himself-in-any/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Everyone blames his memory, no one blames his judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/everyone-blames-his-memory-no-one-blames-his-judgment/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [While blaming someone for something, have a thought on what you would do if in his situation, and ensure whether you're putting right blames…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/while-blaming-someone-for-something-have-a-thought-on-what-you-would/) Senoraroy > [We live in a society that blames everybody else for what's wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-cannon/we-live-in-a-society-that-blames-everybody-else-for-what-s-wrong/) [Max Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-cannon/) > [Whatever one of us blames in another, each one will find in his own heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/whatever-one-of-us-blames-in-another-each-one-will-find-in-his-own/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It’s a poor carpenter blames his tools.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-johnston/it-s-a-poor-carpenter-blames-his-tools/) [Tim Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-johnston/) > [Most of the time when someone blames the other for being unfaithful. They're the ones unfaithful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/most-of-the-time-when-someone-blames-the-other-for-being-unfaithful/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A man can fail, but he isn't a failure until he blames someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/a-man-can-fail-but-he-isn-t-a-failure-until-he-blames-someone-else/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [“A victim is someone who blames it all on someone else. Why give all the power to someone else and leave yourself powerless?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-moss/a-victim-is-someone-who-blames-it-all-on-someone-else-why-give-all/) Christina Moss > [No one blames her." "That never matters," said Alec. "Not when you blame yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/no-one-blames-her-that-never-matters-said-alec-not-when-you-blame/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The fault is in the one who blames. Spirit sees nothing to criticize.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-fault-is-in-the-one-who-blames-spirit-sees-nothing-to-criticize/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [It is a weak man who blames his failures on the strength of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/it-is-a-weak-man-who-blames-his-failures-on-the-strength-of-others/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“only a fool blames the messenger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-archer/only-a-fool-blames-the-messenger/) [Jeffrey Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-archer/) > [“Blames create no change; winners don't apportion blames; only losers have the potentials to do that!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/blames-create-no-change-winners-don-t-apportion-blames-only-losers/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) ## 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 Blame quotes > [“I have to blame myself for not finding any way of reaching him, but I can't feel that either Ruth or I had anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/i-have-to-blame-myself-for-not-finding-any-way-of-reaching-him-but-i/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Me mum used to always have the radio on - even now she has it on in every room. Me girlfriend sort of blames…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/me-mum-used-to-always-have-the-radio-on-even-now-she-has-it-on-in/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [I like to praise and reward loudly, to blame quietly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-the-great/i-like-to-praise-and-reward-loudly-to-blame-quietly/) [Catherine the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-the-great/) > [Some of the things that I said I hated to say, but blame yourself mother fucker you made it this way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jedi-mind-tricks/some-of-the-things-that-i-said-i-hated-to-say-but-blame-yourself/) [Jedi Mind Tricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jedi-mind-tricks/) > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [“In places where government priorities and market imperatives create a world so capricious that to help a neighbor is to risk your ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-boo/in-places-where-government-priorities-and-market-imperatives-create-a/) [Katherine Boo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-boo/) > [“Stop Blaming Others For Your Own Actions”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-g-roldan/stop-blaming-others-for-your-own-actions/) [Alexis G. Roldan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-g-roldan/) > [We know from this book entitled... What is it? Surrendered? Succumbed? I can never remember the title perform. And we learn from this book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/we-know-from-this-book-entitled-what-is-it-surrendered-succumbed-i/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I don't blame anyone .. I did this to myself .. It's my fault .. Everything is my FAULT ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nurnizz95/i-don-t-blame-anyone-i-did-this-to-myself-it-s-my-fault-everything-is/) Nurnizz95 > [“They would congratulate themselves every morning on keeping their integrity, and blame themselves each night for that missed opportunity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/they-would-congratulate-themselves-every-morning-on-keeping-their/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I try to live my life where I end up at a point where I have no regrets. So I try to choose the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-aronofsky/i-try-to-live-my-life-where-i-end-up-at-a-point-where-i-have-no/) [Darren Aronofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-aronofsky/) > [How come you don't feel that magic in the air? I guess I knew you'll never be there. I guess I knew you never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-come-you-don-t-feel-that-magic-in-the-air-i-guess-i-knew-you-ll/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am down mentally. I can't understand how it happened and who is to blame? I don't know why the ground was rolled before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yeasin-khan/i-am-down-mentally-i-can-t-understand-how-it-happened-and-who-is-to/) Yeasin Khan > [A refusal to admit one's mistake & not accepting responsibility for that mistake by blaming everyone else, is d beginning of one's decline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-refusal-to-admit-one-s-mistake-not-accepting-responsibility-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Listen, the guy was not created by coverage from MSNBC and CNN. If you want to blame us for making Donald Trump president because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-tur/listen-the-guy-was-not-created-by-coverage-from-msnbc-and-cnn-if-you/) [Katy Tur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-tur/) Browse all 3,779 Blame quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Whatever the public blames you for, cultivate it; it is yourself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean Cocteau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-cultivate-it-it-is-yourself/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blame" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-cultivate-it-it-is-yourself/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/jean-cocteau-1181_blame_whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-culti_2698930.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/jean-cocteau-1181_blame_whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-culti_2698930.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47d/jean-cocteau-1181_blame_whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-culti_2698930.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whatever the public blames you for, cultivate it; it is yourself.” — 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": "Whatever the public blames you for,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-cultivate-it-it-is-yourself/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/whatever-the-public-blames-you-for-cultivate-it-it-is-yourself/#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 } } ] } ```