Talk:Leonard Cohen

This page needs some serious trimming. An excerpt from a poem or a novel is not the same as a quotation - it is an excerpt. A quotation ought to be a short saying of a few words that is often repeated and in general circulation. For example, Shakespeare's line about "star-crossed lovers" is so often quoted as to have become cliche. The same might be said of his advice about "all that glisters" (although this is most often mis-quoted. Likewise, Oscar Wilde's line about work being the curse of the drinking classes -- these are all quoted because they are short and memorable.  You often hear people quote the first line of Elizabeth Browning's sonnet, "How do I love thee?", but no one ever goes on to recite the remaining lines.  Most of the quotations on this page need to be cut back to reflect this.  No one walks around reciting Suzanne.  In fact, I would argue that there are at most 4 lines in the entire song that should be considered for inclusion here -- and that is a liberal estimate.


 * Well, an excerpt is not the same as a quote, but there're two issues in this regard. One, can we define what no longer qualifies as a quote. And two, even if we agree that some excerpt isn't a quote, is it ok or not to also include it in wikiquote, as it doesn't fit in any of the other wiki projects. See Village_pump. But the discussion there doesn't directly relates to this page, I think that the main issue with including songs lyrics is whether there's a problem with the copyrights. Anyway, I suggest that instead of talking about your suggestion, you should just edit the page, see the be bold article. If User:Kalki who created this page, or someone else, wouldn't like your editing, they could revert it or improve it etc. Sams 15:57, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

Leonard Cohen, in my opinion, is a depressing writer with rare beautiful talent. My name is Shelby. His writing inspires sadness, but power among the hearts of people. Mr.Cohen is inspirational. I want to be a writer as a career one day, and he inspires to me that creativity can be found in anyone. Thank you. -Shelby

Unsourced

 * We taught him how to dress, and he taught us how to live, forever.
 * On Irving Layton