“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”

Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist

Leonard Cohen was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. He is known for work that moves between song and literature, and for a career that made him a major figure in Canadian and international music. His writing and songs often explore faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, as well as love, desire, regret, loss, and social and political conflict. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2011, he received a Prince of Asturias Award for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize.