Leonard Cohen quotes - page 8

I never really liked poetry readings; I liked to read poetry by myself, but I liked singing, chanting my lyrics to this jazz group. (Leonard Cohen)
I can work on a verse for a very long time before realising it's not any good and then, and only then, can I discard it. View quote
Leonard Cohen
Journalists, especially English journalists, were very cruel to me. They said I only knew three chords when I knew five! View quote
Leonard Cohen
I've always been into self-dramatization. I intend to live forever. View quote
Leonard Cohen
When things get really bad, just raise your glass and stamp your feet and do a little jig. That's about all you can do. View quote
Leonard Cohen
Music is the emotional life of most people. View quote
Leonard Cohen
When you stop thinking about yourself all the time, a certain sense of repose overtakes you. View quote
Leonard Cohen
Let judges secretly despair of justice: their verdicts will be more acute. Let generals secretly despair of triumph; killing will be defamed. Let priests secretly despair of faith: their compassion will be true. View quote
Leonard Cohen
And most people have a woman in their heart, most men have a woman in their heart and most women have a man in their heart. View quote
Leonard Cohen
We're always experiencing joy or sadness. But there are lots of people who've closed down. And there are times in one's life when one has to close down just to regroup. View quote
Leonard Cohen
Children show scars like medals. Lovers use them as secrets to reveal. A scar is what happens when the word is made flesh. (Leonard Cohen)
I always thought that poetry is the verdict that others give to a certain kind of writing. So to call yourself a poet is a kind of dangerous description. It's for others; it's for others to use. View quote
Leonard Cohen
In dreams the truth is learned that all good works are done in the absence of a caress. View quote
Leonard Cohen
The term clinical depression finds its way into too many conversations these days. One has a sense that a catastrophe has occurred in the psychic landscape. View quote
Leonard Cohen
Prayer is translation. A man translates himself into a child asking for all there is in a language he has barely mastered. View quote
Leonard Cohen
I was 15 when I first became deeply touched by the rhythm and structure of words. View quote
Leonard Cohen
And I had not much of a voice. I didn't play that great guitar either. View quote
Leonard Cohen
Most of the time one is discouraged by the work, but now and again by some grace something stands out and invites you to work on it, to elaborate it or animate it in some way. It's a mysterious process. View quote
Leonard Cohen
I always felt I was scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to get a song together. View quote
Leonard Cohen
You can keep the body as well-oiled and receptive as possible, but whether you're actually going to be able to go for the long haul is really not your own choice. View quote
Leonard Cohen
I speak of a clinical depression that is the background of your entire life, a background of anguish and anxiety, a sense that nothing goes well, that pleasure is unavailable and all your strategies collapse. (Leonard Cohen)
Well, for one thing, in the tradition of Zen that I've practiced, there is no prayerful worship and there is no affirmation of a deity. View quote
Leonard Cohen
My two great heroes are W. B. Yeats and Federico García Lorca. View quote
Leonard Cohen
I read with some amusement my reputation as a ladies' man. My friends are amused by that, too, because they know my life. View quote
Leonard Cohen
I am an old scholar, better-looking now than when I was young. That's what sitting on your ass does to your face. View quote
Leonard Cohen