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I smile when I'm angry, I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do to get by.
But I know what is wrong and I know what is right,
and I'd die for the truth in my secret life.

— Leonard Cohen Ten New Songs (2001)

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Truth

More quotes by Leonard Cohen

Courage is what others can't see, what is never affirmed. It is made of what you have thrown away and then come back for.

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river.

Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)

Every heart to love will come
But like a refugee.

The Future (1992)

It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love.

Beautiful Losers (1966)

And here you are hurried,
And here you are gone;
And here is the love,
That it's all built upon.

Ten New Songs (2001)

All Leonard Cohen quotes →

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You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

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False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

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I believe in evil. It is the property of all those who are certain of truth. Despair and fanaticism are only differing manifestations of evil.

Edward Teller

Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.

Ulysses S. Grant Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Leonard Cohen (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.