Leonard Cohen Quotes

Prayer is translation. A man translates himself into a child asking for all there is in a language he has barely mastered.
Leonard Cohen

Prayer, Child, Himself

Well, for one thing, in the tradition of Zen that I've practiced, there is no prayerful worship and there is no affirmation of a deity.
Leonard Cohen

Worship, Tradition, Practiced

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.
Leonard Cohen

Women, Song, Stand

And I had not much of a voice. I didn't play that great guitar either.
Leonard Cohen

Great, Play, Guitar

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.
Leonard Cohen

Women, Men, Heart

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.
Leonard Cohen

Work, Political, Often

I always felt I was scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to get a song together.
Leonard Cohen

Together, Trying, Song

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.
Leonard Cohen

Poetry, Yourself, Writing

I can work on a verse for a very long time before realising it's not any good and then, and only then, can I discard it.
Leonard Cohen

Work, Time, Good

I don't really understand that process called reincarnation but if there is such a thing I'd like to come back as my daughter's dog.
Leonard Cohen

Understand, Dog, Process

I had the title poet, and maybe I was one for a while. Also, the title singer was kindly accorded me, even though I could barely carry a tune.
Leonard Cohen

While, Though, Maybe

I never really liked poetry readings; I liked to read poetry by myself, but I liked singing, chanting my lyrics to this jazz group.
Leonard Cohen

Poetry, Group, Read

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.
Leonard Cohen

Work, Poetry, End

I was 15 when I first became deeply touched by the rhythm and structure of words.
Leonard Cohen

Words, Structure, Deeply

If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often.
Leonard Cohen

Good, Often, Knew

Journalists, especially English journalists, were very cruel to me. They said I only knew three chords when I knew five!
Leonard Cohen

Said, Three, Knew

Most of the time one is discouraged by the work, but now and again by some grace something stands out and invites you to work on it, to elaborate it or animate it in some way. It's a mysterious process.
Leonard Cohen

Work, Time, Again

My sense of proprietorship has been so weak that actually I didn't pay attention and I lost the copyrights on a lot of the songs.
Leonard Cohen

Lost, Sense, Attention

My two great heroes are W. B. Yeats and Fernando Garcia Lorca.
Leonard Cohen

Great, Two, Heroes

Out of the thousands who are known or who want to be known as poets, maybe one or two are genuine and the rest are fakes, hanging around the sacred precincts, trying to look like the real thing.
Leonard Cohen

Real, Trying, Two

The term clinical depression finds its way into too many conversations these days. One has a sense that a catastrophe has occurred in the psychic landscape.
Leonard Cohen

Depression, Sense, Days

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

Music, Fun, Play

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Biography

Nationality: Canadian

Born: September 21, 1934

Links

Find on Amazon: Leonard Cohen

Cite this Page: Citation

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