A biography for Leonard Cohenhasn’t been written yet.
“Success is survival.”
“And may my bronze name / touch always her thousand fingers / grow brighter with her weeping / until I am fixed like a galaxy / and memorized / in her secret and fragile skies.”
“Prayer is translation. A man translates himself into a child asking for all there is in a language he has barely mastered.”
“The basic function of popular music is to create an environment for courting, lovemaking, and doing the dishes. It's useful because it addresses the heart in the midst of all these activities, and it will always be useful in this very important way.”
“Friend, when you speak this carefully I know it is because you don't know what to say.”
“I never really liked poetry readings; I liked to read poetry by myself, but I liked singing, chanting my lyrics to this jazz group.”
“I think that Bob Dylan knows this more than all of us: you don't write the songs anyhow. So if you're lucky, you can keep the vehicle healthy and responsive over the years. If you're lucky, your own intentions have very little to do with this.”
“There were times that I thought I was good looking.”
“I had a very messianic childhood.”
“Music is the emotional life of most people.”
“There are some people who come to me for some illumination on their problems. I guess they feel I'm writing about some of the things they themselves are going through. But I don't usually have much help to give - there isn't much you can say to someone in the midst of their own crises.”
“I have a deep tribal sense. I grew up in a synagogue that my ancestors built. I sat in the third row. My family was decent. They were good people; they were handshake people. So I never had a sense of rebellion.”
“I heard of a manwho says words so beautifullythat if he only speaks their namewomen give themselves to him.If I am dumb beside your bodywhile silence blossoms like tumors on our lipsit is because I hear a man climb stairsand clear his throat outside our door.”
“There's always a group of songs that I'm working at. Some of them are 10 years old, and some of them are just a few weeks old. I'm always trying to adjust these songs to some position where I can bring them to completion.”
“Journalists, especially English journalists, were very cruel to me. They said I only knew three chords when I knew five!”
“Except for a couple of hours in the morning which I passed in the company of a sage I stayed in bed without food only a few mouthfuls of water “you are a fine looking old man” I said to myself in the mirror “and what is more you have the correct attitude You don’t care if it ends or if it goes on And as for the women and the music there will be plenty of that in Paradise” Then I went to the Mosque of Memory to express my gratitude”
“The older I get, the surer I am that I'm not running the show.”
“... i didn't fall in love of courseit's never up to youbut she was walking back and forthand i was passing through”
“I read with some amusement my reputation as a ladies' man. My friends are amused by that, too, because they know my life.”
“I like life on the road. It's a lot easier than civilian life. You kind of feel like you're in a motorcycle gang.”