It's hard to hold the hand of anyone who is reaching for the sky just to surrender
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the difficulty of supporting someone who is striving for greatness yet feels the pull of giving up.
Leonard Cohen's quote reflects the struggle of being in a relationship or friendship with someone who is ambitious and desires to achieve lofty goals but simultaneously grapples with the temptation to give in to despair. It suggests that while it is commendable to reach for dreams, the journey can be fraught with challenges that may lead one to consider surrendering, making it hard for others to offer support during such turbulent times.
In practice
This quote can be used during a motivational speech to highlight the resilience required in pursuing dreams.
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.
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.
Be With Me In The Phases Of My Work Because My Brain Feels Like It Has Been Whipped And I Yearn To Make A Small Perfect Thing Which Will Live In Your Morning Like Curious Static Through A President's Elegy Or A Nude Hunchback Acquiring A Tan On The Crowded Oily Beach.
I heard of a man who says words so beautifully that if he only speaks their name women give themselves to him. If I am dumb beside your body while silence blossoms like tumors on our lips it is because I hear a man climb stairs and clear his throat outside our door.
I think what we like about music - and what we like about art in general....is that enterprise that stops our minds from spinning. Because we're always all over the place. A good song, a good lyric is a movie: it will just focus and calm and confer significance on this completely bewildering reality that all of us live in.
Most of the time one is discouraged by the work, but now and again by some grace something stands out and invites you to work on it, to elaborate it or animate it in some way. It's a mysterious process.
It is one thing to wish to have truth on our side, and another to wish sincerely to be on the side of truth.
[Once plans for each eventuality are resolved, further] Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, but only saps today of its strength.
He read a lot. He used a lot of big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking. Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often. A couple of times I tried to tell him it was a mistake to get too deep into that kind of stuff, but Alex got stuck on things. He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on to the next thing.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others.
I was looking in the mirror the other day and I realized I haven't changed much since I was in my twenties. The only difference is I look a whole lot older now.
Put least trust in him who is foremost to praise you, nor judge of a road till it draw to the end.
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