Quotes By Leonard Cohen

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.

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.

As a young man, Yeats spoke to me in a way I could understand. Shakespeare I couldn't understand, but Yeats I could. It was his subject matter and also I really admired the way he put his personal life on the line.

I read with some amusement my reputation as a ladies' man. My friends are amused by that, too, because they know my life.

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

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.

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.

The older I get, the surer I am that I'm not running the show.

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

We're in a world where there's famine and hunger and people are dodging bullets and having their nails pulled out in dungeons so it's very hard for me to place any high value on the work that I do to write a song. Yeah, I work hard but compared to what?

Music is the emotional life of most people.

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.

I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin.

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

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 speak of a clinical depression that is the background of your entire life, a background of anguish and anxiety, a sense that nothing goes well, that pleasure is unavailable and all your strategies collapse.

When you stop thinking about yourself all the time, a certain sense of repose overtakes you.