Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQis a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. His work has explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships. Cohen has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received a Princess of Asturias Awards for literature...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionFolk Singer
Date of Birth21 September 1934
CityWestmount, Canada
CountryCanada
Deprivation is the mother of poetry.
I fought against the bottle, but I had to do it drunk. Took my diamond to the pawn shop, but that don't make it junk.
I cannot understand why my arm is not a lilac tree.
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. What were these instructions? The instructions were never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity and beauty.
If I knew where the good songs came from, I’d go there more often. It’s a mysterious condition. It’s much like the life of a Catholic nun. You’re married to a mystery.
Follow me, the wise man said, but he walked behind.
It's hard to hold the hand of anyone who is reaching for the sky just to surrender
My reputation as a ladies' man was a joke that caused me to laugh bitterly through the ten thousand nights I spent alone.
You lose your grip, and then you slip into the Masterpiece.
What is most original in a man's nature is often that which is most desperate. Thus new systems are forced on the world by men who simply cannot bear the pain of living with what is. Creators care nothing for their systems except that they be unique. If Hitler had been born in Nazi Germany he wouldn't have been content to enjoy the atmosphere.
How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday in me?
If you don't become the ocean, you'll be seasick every day.
Like a bird on a wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free!!