naranjitoo:

Jean Cocteau (self-portrait, 1954) 

“Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal. Drugs, alcohol, or lies. Unable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort, the trifling feeling of escape experienced at a masked ball. He distances himself from that which he feels and sees. He invents. He transfigures. He mythifies…

Journalists know this, or at least sense it. The inaccuracies of the press, and the banner headlines by which they are trumpeted, are soothing draughts to this thirst for the unreal. Accuracy is vexing to a crowd of would-be fantasizers. Hasn’t our age coined the term ‘escapism’, when in fact the only way to escape oneself is to allow oneself to be invaded?”

-excerpted from “On Invisibility,” Diary of an Unknown (1953)

(Source: oldhollywood, via jesuisperdu)