A towering figure in the worlds of literature, cinema, and visual art, Jean Cocteau was one of the most influential creative artists of the twentieth century. In this collection of brief—often aphoristic—meditations, he reflects on the nature of beauty itself. Ranging over painters, poets, and musicians, Cocteau offers brilliant insights into the essential loneliness of the artistic vocation. As well as throwing new light on the author’s own creative achievement, Secrets of Beauty is a vital contribution to aesthetic theory