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61 " A sip of wine, a cigarette,And then it’s time to go.I tidied up the kitchenette;I tuned the old banjo.I’m wanted at the traffic-jam.They’re saving me a seat. "
― Leonard Cohen
62 " Así como un ave en su jaula.Así como un bebedor entre el bullicio de la medianoche,así he intentado ser libre, a mi manera. "
63 " Though I don't believe, I come to you now, and I lift my doubt to your mercy. "
― Leonard Cohen , Book of Mercy
64 " That paragraph. It’s not the work of an author, but maybe five lines. It’s those five lines that will get me reluctantly to explore the rest of the guy’s work. But that paragraph I’ve never forgotten. There’s that paragraph ‘Snow was general all over Ireland.’ It described the snow. It’s Montreal. It’s our snow, our black iron gates in Montreal. It was perfect. "
65 " People change and their bodies change and their hair grows gray and falls out and their bodies decay and die… but there is something that doesn’t change about love and about the feelings we have for people. Marianne, the woman of So Long, Marianne, when I hear her voice on the telephone, I know something is completely intact even though our lives have separated and we’ve gone our very different paths. I feel that love never dies, and that when there is an emotion strong enough to gather a song around it, that there is something about that emotion that is indestructible… "
66 " But you don't really care for music DO YOU? "
67 " I write to murder the selves that whisper untruths to me. "
68 " A kite is a victim you are sure of.You love it because it pullsgentle enough to call you master,strong enough to call you fool;because it liveslike a desperate trained falconin the high sweet air,and you can always haul it downto tame it in your drawer.A kite is a fish you have already caughtin a pool where no fish come,so you play him carefully and long,and hope he won't give up,or the wind die down.A kite is the last poem you've writtenso you give it to the wind,but you don't let it gountil someone finds yousomething else to do. "
― Leonard Cohen , The Spice-Box of Earth
69 " THERE FOR YOUWhen it all went downAnd the pain came throughI get it nowI was there for youDon’t ask me howI know it’s trueI get it nowI was there for youI make my plansLike I always doBut when I look backI was there for youI walk the streetsLike I used to doAnd I freeze with fearBut I’m there for youI see my lifeIn full reviewIt was never meIt was always youYou sent me hereYou sent me thereBreaking thingsI can’t repairMaking objectsOut of thoughtsmaking moreBy thinking notEating foodAnd drinking wineA body thatI thought was mineDressed as ArabDressed as JewO mask of ironI was there for youMoods of gloryMoods so foulThe world comes throughA bloody towelAnd death is oldBut it’s always newI freeze with fearAnd I’m there for youI see it clearI always knewIt was never meI was there for youI was there for youMy darling oneAnd by your lawIt all was doneDon’t ask me howI know it’s trueI get it nowI was there for you "
― Leonard Cohen , Book of Longing
70 " This is itI’m not coming after youI’m going to lie down for half an hourThis is itI’m not going downOn your memoryI’m not rubbing my face in it anymoreI’m going to yawnI’m going to stretchI’m going to put a knitting needleUp my noseAnd poke out my brainI don’t want to love youFor the rest of my lifeI want your skinTo fall off my skinI want my clampTo release your clampI don’t want to liveWith this tongue hanging outAnd another filthy songIn the placeOf my baseball batThis is itI’m going to sleep now darlingDon’t try to stop meI’m going to sleepI’ll have a smooth faceAnd I’m going to droolI’ll be asleepWhether you love me or notThis is itThe new world orderOf wrinkles and bad breathIt’s not going to beLike it was beforeEating youWith my eyes closedHoping you won’t get upAnd go awayIt’s going to be something elseSomething worseSomething sillierSomething like thisOnly shorter "
71 " THIS ISN’T CHINAHold me closeand tell me what the world is likeI don’t want to look outsideI want to depend on your eyesand your lipsI don’t want to feel anythingbut your handon the old raw bumperI don’t want to feel anything elseIf you love the dead rocksand the huge rough pine treesOk I like them tooTell me if the windmakes a pretty soundin the billion billion needlesI’ll close my eyes and smileTell me if it’s a good morningor a clear morningTell me what the fuck kind of morningit isand I’ll buy itAnd get the dogto stop whining and barkingThis isn’t Chinanobody’s going to eat itIt’s just going to get fed and pettedOk where were we?Ok go if you must.I’ll create the cosmosby myselfI’ll let it all stick to meevery fucking pine needleAnd I’ll broadcast my affectionfrom this shaven dome360 degreesto all the dramatic vistasto all the mists and snowsthat moves acrossthe shining mountainsto the women bathingin the streamand combing their hairon the roofsto the voiceless oneswho have petitioned mefrom their surprising silenceto the poor in the heart(oh more and more to them)to all the thought-formsand leaking mental objectsthat you get up hereat the end of your ghostly life "
72 " ordinary eternal machinery, like the grinding of the stars "
― Leonard Cohen , Beautiful Losers
73 " Secret kabals of vegetarians habitually gather under the sign to exchange contraband from beyond the Vegetable Barrier. In their pinpoint eyes dances their old dream: the Total Fast. One of them reports a new atrocity published without compassionate comment by the editors of Scientific American: "It has been established that, when pulled from the ground, a radish produces an electronic scream." Not even the triple bill for 65˘ will comfort them tonight. With a mad laugh born of despair, one of them throws himself on a hot-dog stand, disintegrating on the first chew into pathetic withdrawal symptoms. The rest watch him mournfully and then separate into the Montreal entertainment section. The news is more serious than any of them thought. One is ravished by a steak house with sidewalk ventilation. In a restaurant, one argues with the waiter that he ordered "tomato" but then in a suicide of gallantry he agrees to accept the spaghetti, meat sauce mistake. "
74 " it's closing time "
― Leonard Cohen , The Future
75 " How can I begin anything new with all of yesterday in me? "
76 " 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. "
77 " If you don't become the ocean, you'll be seasick every day. "
78 " Never make a decision when you need to pee. "
79 " Avoid the flourish. Do not be afraid to be weak. Do not be ashamed to be tired. You look good when you’re tired. You look like you could go on forever. Now come into my arms. You are the image of my beauty . "
80 " You go your wayI'll go your way too "