"I kind of limp along like so many of us do in these realms. Occasionally I've felt the grace of another presence in my life. But I can't develop any kind of spiritual structure on that."
Quote collection
Leonard Cohen quotes (page 11 of 20)
399 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"We do what only lovers can: make a gift out of necessity."
"I smile when I'm angry , I cheat and I lie. I do what I have to do to get by. But I know what is wrong and I know what is right , and I'd die for the truth in my secret life ."
"I feel that, you know, the enormous luck I've had in being able to make a living, and to never have had to have written one word that I didn't want to write, to be able to have satisfied that dictum I set for myself, which was not to work for pay, but to be paid for my work - just to be able to satisfy those standards that I set for myself has been an enormous privilege."
"Any startling piece of work has a subversive element in it, a delicious element often. Subversion is only disagreeable when it manifests in political or social activity."
"I didn't want to write for pay. I wanted to be paid for what I write."
"It's time that we began to laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again."
"To the men and women who own men and women those of us meant to be lovers we will not pardon you for wasting our bodies and time"
"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."
"You were Marlon Brando, I was Steve McQueen, you were K.Y. Jelly, I was Vaseline."
"How bitter were the Prozac pills of the last few hundred mornings"
"Creators care nothing for their systems except that they be unique."
"I've always held the song in high regard because songs have got me through so many sinks of dishes and so many humiliating courting events."
"I'm writing all the time. And as the songs begin to coalesce, I'm not doing anything else but writing. I wish I were one of those people who wrote songs quickly. But I'm not. So it takes me a great deal of time to find out what the song is."
"Now, I don't want to give you the impression that I'm a great musicologist, but I'm a lot better than what I was described as for a long, long time; you know, people said I only knew three chords when I knew five."
"It's hard to be serious about so many things. [Look at the whole emphasis] on the charts, if you're a songwriter."
"I have nothing against the Queen of England. Even in my heart I never resented her for not being Jackie Kennedy. She is, to my mind, a very gallant lady, victimized by whoever it is who designs the tops of her uniforms."
"I think culture's always been violent, and it is something we find very entertaining. Not only does it reflect our social reality, but it also reflects our psychic reality."
"Maybe we, the cultural workers , could apply ourselves. We're not going to resolve it in this moment or even in this generation, but perhaps as some kind of agenda we could invite our writers and cultural workers to address the problem a little more responsibly, because people are suffering tremendously from a want of data."
"He knew that hair couldn't feel; he kissed her hair."