A biography for Richard Cohenhasn’t been written yet.
“My heroes are not necessarily people of great ability but ones who did what I think I could not.”
“I don't know if history will adjudge Barack Obama a great president, but he has been a necessary one.”
“Maybe the best example of the unmuscled hero is Humphrey Bogart in 'Casablanca.' Bogart was 15 years older than Ingrid Bergman, and it did not matter at all. He had the experience, the confidence, the internal strength that can only come with age.”
“Trump lies when confronted with the truth, since any crack in his narcissism might spread like an Ebola of the soul, and he would deflate like one of Macy's balloons on the Friday after Thanksgiving.”
“I came of age when jobs were plentiful and college not exorbitantly expensive. I graduated with debt, but it was manageable, and I set off to do something I loved - journalism.”
“Republicans and others who are in anguish over the possibility of socialized medicine ought to have to explain their ideology to a mother with a sick newborn. They ought to have to explain how this nation can debate health care and not mention how abysmal ours is.”
“Trump is a dust storm of lies and diversions with the bellows of a bully and the greasy ethics of a street-corner hustler.”
“Polanski is a great film director - although the much-acclaimed 'Chinatown' has a muddled script - but his true talent is to make fools of his friends.”
“What if Hillary Clinton were a man? What if she were a 68-year-old man rather than a 68-year-old woman? Would we think differently of her?”
“With a sinking feeling, I have come to a horrible conclusion: I am addicted to Donald Trump.”
“Private enterprise cannot rebuild the nation's infrastructure or keep our research institutions vibrant. Government must do what only it can do.”
“We are a segmented society, living in our individual bubbles.”
“Say what you will about Donald Trump, he cares. He cares about things I don't, and he has some awful ideas, and he is an amoral man in so many ways. But, in contrast to Obama, his emotions are no mystery.”
“Leaving aside handguns and hunting weapons, what's the justification for possessing an AR-15-style weapon?”
“Myths have a certain staying power because, really, they are aspirational - not always who we are, but always who we want to be. We see ourselves as good and generous. We believe we are a virtuous nation.”
“A presidential candidate needs a slogan.”
“I have written about cultural dislocation, and I understand the corrosive effect of diminished expectations.”
“Being an American is life-threatening. For various reasons, men and women here don't live as long as men and women in about two dozen other countries, including the ones we defeated in World War II - Japan, Germany and Italy.”
“Heroism is a matter of choice.”
“The ultimate question is whether the name Donald Trump will be attached to an era - whether he will so change America that it will never be the same afterward.”