“a kite is a victim you are sure of.
you love it because it pulls.”
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Leonard Cohen 169
Canadian poet and singer-songwriter 1934–2016Related quotes

Source: East of Eden (1952)
Context: Maybe that's the reason," Adam said slowly, feeling his way. "Maybe if I had loved him I would have been jealous of him. You were. Maybe-maybe love makes you suspicious and doubting. Is it true that when you love a woman you are never sure-never sure of her because you aren't sure of yourself? I can see it pretty clearly. I can see how you loved him and what it did to you. I did not love him. Maybe he loved me. He tested me and hurt me and punished me and finally he sent me out like a sacrifice, maybe to make up for something. But he did not love you, and so he had faith in you. Maybe — why, maybe it's a kind of reverse.

“From the words and the thickets,
Come the ghosts of his victims,
'We love you!'
'Ah love you!”
This will not hurt a bit.
Song lyrics, From Her to Eternity (1984), A Box for Black Paul

From the eighth book, "The Book of the Seducer"
The Pillow Book