Leonard Cohen

“In dreams the truth is learned that all good works are done in the absence of a caress.”

“To every people the land is given on condition. Perceived or not, there is a Covenant, beyond the constitution, beyond sovereign guarantee, beyond the nation's sweetest dreams of itself.”

“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.”

“Music is the emotional life of most people.”

“We used to play music for fun. Much more than now. Now nobody picks up a guitar unless they're paid for it.”

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”

“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 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.”

“I think the term poet is a very exalted term and should be applied to a man at the end of his work. When he looks back over the body of his work and he's written poetry then let the verdict be that he's a poet.”

“Success is survival.”

“Women stand for the objective world for a man. They stand for the thing that you're not and that's what you always reach for in a song.”

“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.”