DEAR DIARY You are greater than the Bible And the Con­fer­ence of the Birds And the Upanishads All put together You are more severe Than the Scriptures And Ham­mura­bi’s Code More dan­ger­ous than Luther’s paper Nailed to the Cathe­dral door You are sweeter Than the Song of Songs Mightier by far Than the Epic of Gilgamesh And braver Than the Sagas of Iceland bow my head in gratitude To the ones who give their livest keep the secret The dai­ly secret Under lock and key Dear Diary mean no disrespect But you are more sublime Than any Sa­cred Text Sometimes just a Liston my events Is holi­er than the Bill of Rights And more in­tense

— Leonard Cohen

Dear friend, I have searched all night through each burnt paper, but I fear I will never find the formula to let you die

— Leonard Cohen

Deprivation is the mother of poetry.

— Leonard Cohen

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows the war is overEverybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That's how it goes Everybody knows

— Leonard Cohen

Except for a couple of hours in the morning which I passed in the company of a sage I stayed in bed without food only a few mouthfuls of water “you are a fine looking old man” I said to myself in the mirror “and what is more you have the correct attitude You don’t care if it ends or if it goes on And as for the women and the music there will be plenty of that in Paradise” Then I went to the Mosque of Memory to express my gratitude

— Leonard Cohen

First of all nothing will happen and a little later nothing will happen again

— Leonard Cohen

Friend, when you speak this carefully I know it is because you don't know what to say.

— Leonard Cohen

How quickly pettiness returns, and that most ignoble form of real estate, the possessive occupation and tyranny over two square inches of human flesh, the wife's cunt.

— 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.

— Leonard Cohen

... I didn't fall in love of course it's never up to you but she was walking back and forehand I was passing through

— Leonard Cohen