Cohen quotes
'If you kill me a thousand will take my place,’ said the man, who was now backed against the wall.
‘Yes,’ said Cohen, in a reasonable tone of voice, ‘but that isn’t the point is it? The point is, you’ll be dead. (LF)
Cohen had heard of fair fighting, and had long ago decided he wanted no part of it. (LF)
'... he can’t be mad. I’ve been around; if a man hash lotsh of money he’sh just ecshentric.' (LF)
'Bonfire of books?'
‘Yes. Horrible, isn’t it?’
‘Right,’ said Cohen. He thought it was appalling. Someone who spent his life living rough under the sky knew the value of a good thick book, which ought to outlast at least a season of cooking fires if you were careful how you tore the pages out. Many a life had been saved on a snowy night by a handful of sodden kindling and a really dry book. If you felt like a smoke and couldn’t find a pipe, a book was your man every time.
Cohen realised people wrote things in books. It has always seemed to him to be a frivolous waste of paper. (LF)
Self-doubt was not something regularly entertained within the Cohen cranium. When you’re trying to carry a struggling temple maiden and a sack of looted temple goods in one hand and fight off half a dozen angry priests with the other there is little time for reflection. Natural selection saw to it that professional heroes who at a crucial moment tended to ask themselves questions like ‘What is my purpose in life?’very quickly lacked both. (IT)
'I always live in interestin' times,' said Cohen, in the satisfied voice of someone who did a lot to keep them interesting. (IT)
'Do teachers go anywhere special when they die?’ said Cohen.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Mr Saveloy gloomily. He wondered for a moment whether there really was a great Free Period in the sky. It didn’t sound very likely. Probably there would be some marking to do. (IT)
He stood up and stretched in the sunshine.
‘It’s a lovely morning, lads,’ he said. ‘I feel like a million dollars. Don’t you?’
There was a murmur of reluctant agreement.
‘Good,’ said Cohen. ‘Let’s go and get some.' (IT)
It was something about Cohen. Maybe it was what they called charisma. It overpowered even his normal smell of a goat that had just eaten curried asparagus. (IT)
'There's lots of waiting in warfare,’ said Boy Willie.
‘Ah, yes,’ said Mr Saveloy. ‘I’ve heard people say that. They say there’s long periods of boredom followed by short periods of excitement.’
‘Not really,’ said Cohen. ‘It’s more like short periods of waiting followed by long periods of being dead'. (IT)
There was something about Cohen. People caught optimism off him as though it was the common cold. (IT)
Cohen's father had taken him to a mountain top, when he was no more than a lad, and explained to him the hero’s creed and told him that there was no greater joy than to die in battle.
Cohen had seen the flaw in this straight away, and a lifetime’s experience had reinforced his belief that in fact a greater joy was to kill the other bugger in battle and end up sitting on a heap of gold higher than your horse. (IT)
'Are you a friend of his?'
'Well, we've met a couple of times and he didn't kill me,' said Rincewind. 'That probably counts as a a "yes".' (LH)
'...the big thing about Cohen is ... he's contagious.'
'You mean like a plague carrier?'
'It's like a mental illness, sir. Or magic. He's as crazy as a stoat, but ... once they've been round him for a while, people start seeing the world the way he does. All big and simple. And they want to be part of it.' (LH)
'They say fortune favours the brave, but I say I’ve seen too many brave men walkin’ into battles they never walked out of.' (LH)
'I’ve got a sword and it’s a good one, but all the bleedin’ thing can do is keep someone alive, listen. A song can keep someone immortal.' (LH)
'Some people say you achieve immortality through your children,’ said the minstrel.
‘Yeah?’ said Cohen. ‘Name one of your great-granddads, then.' (LH)
'I like a man I can’t trust. You know where you stand with an untrustworthy man. It’s the ones you ain’t never sure about who give you grief.' (LH)
'If Cohen was easy to kill, people would have done it a long time ago.' (LH)
'Stumps? Stumps? I used to like this forest. It was…well, it was darksome. You don’t get proper darksome any more. You really knew what terror was, in a forest like that.' (TB)
'When I was just starting out in the barbarian hero business,’ said Cohen, ‘every bridge had a troll under it. And you couldn’t go through a forest like we’ve just gone through without a dozen goblins trying to chop your head off.’ He sighed. ‘I wonder what happened to ’em all?’
‘You,’ said the horse.
‘Well, yes. But I always thought there’d be some more. I always thought there’d be some more edges.' (TB)
'... if I didn’t try my father would turn in his mound.’
‘You told me he drove you out of the tribe when you were eleven.’
‘Best day’s work he ever did. Taught me to stand on other people’s feet.' (TB)
'No treasure,’said Cohen. ‘Spent it all. Drank it all. Gave it all away. Lost it.’
‘You should have saved some for your old age.’
‘Never thought I’d have an old age.' (TB)
He has survived by never giving up and never playing fair (PP)
‘Yes,’ said Cohen, in a reasonable tone of voice, ‘but that isn’t the point is it? The point is, you’ll be dead. (LF)
Cohen had heard of fair fighting, and had long ago decided he wanted no part of it. (LF)
'... he can’t be mad. I’ve been around; if a man hash lotsh of money he’sh just ecshentric.' (LF)
'Bonfire of books?'
‘Yes. Horrible, isn’t it?’
‘Right,’ said Cohen. He thought it was appalling. Someone who spent his life living rough under the sky knew the value of a good thick book, which ought to outlast at least a season of cooking fires if you were careful how you tore the pages out. Many a life had been saved on a snowy night by a handful of sodden kindling and a really dry book. If you felt like a smoke and couldn’t find a pipe, a book was your man every time.
Cohen realised people wrote things in books. It has always seemed to him to be a frivolous waste of paper. (LF)
Self-doubt was not something regularly entertained within the Cohen cranium. When you’re trying to carry a struggling temple maiden and a sack of looted temple goods in one hand and fight off half a dozen angry priests with the other there is little time for reflection. Natural selection saw to it that professional heroes who at a crucial moment tended to ask themselves questions like ‘What is my purpose in life?’very quickly lacked both. (IT)
'I always live in interestin' times,' said Cohen, in the satisfied voice of someone who did a lot to keep them interesting. (IT)
'Do teachers go anywhere special when they die?’ said Cohen.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Mr Saveloy gloomily. He wondered for a moment whether there really was a great Free Period in the sky. It didn’t sound very likely. Probably there would be some marking to do. (IT)
He stood up and stretched in the sunshine.
‘It’s a lovely morning, lads,’ he said. ‘I feel like a million dollars. Don’t you?’
There was a murmur of reluctant agreement.
‘Good,’ said Cohen. ‘Let’s go and get some.' (IT)
It was something about Cohen. Maybe it was what they called charisma. It overpowered even his normal smell of a goat that had just eaten curried asparagus. (IT)
'There's lots of waiting in warfare,’ said Boy Willie.
‘Ah, yes,’ said Mr Saveloy. ‘I’ve heard people say that. They say there’s long periods of boredom followed by short periods of excitement.’
‘Not really,’ said Cohen. ‘It’s more like short periods of waiting followed by long periods of being dead'. (IT)
There was something about Cohen. People caught optimism off him as though it was the common cold. (IT)
Cohen's father had taken him to a mountain top, when he was no more than a lad, and explained to him the hero’s creed and told him that there was no greater joy than to die in battle.
Cohen had seen the flaw in this straight away, and a lifetime’s experience had reinforced his belief that in fact a greater joy was to kill the other bugger in battle and end up sitting on a heap of gold higher than your horse. (IT)
'Are you a friend of his?'
'Well, we've met a couple of times and he didn't kill me,' said Rincewind. 'That probably counts as a a "yes".' (LH)
'...the big thing about Cohen is ... he's contagious.'
'You mean like a plague carrier?'
'It's like a mental illness, sir. Or magic. He's as crazy as a stoat, but ... once they've been round him for a while, people start seeing the world the way he does. All big and simple. And they want to be part of it.' (LH)
'They say fortune favours the brave, but I say I’ve seen too many brave men walkin’ into battles they never walked out of.' (LH)
'I’ve got a sword and it’s a good one, but all the bleedin’ thing can do is keep someone alive, listen. A song can keep someone immortal.' (LH)
'Some people say you achieve immortality through your children,’ said the minstrel.
‘Yeah?’ said Cohen. ‘Name one of your great-granddads, then.' (LH)
'I like a man I can’t trust. You know where you stand with an untrustworthy man. It’s the ones you ain’t never sure about who give you grief.' (LH)
'If Cohen was easy to kill, people would have done it a long time ago.' (LH)
'Stumps? Stumps? I used to like this forest. It was…well, it was darksome. You don’t get proper darksome any more. You really knew what terror was, in a forest like that.' (TB)
'When I was just starting out in the barbarian hero business,’ said Cohen, ‘every bridge had a troll under it. And you couldn’t go through a forest like we’ve just gone through without a dozen goblins trying to chop your head off.’ He sighed. ‘I wonder what happened to ’em all?’
‘You,’ said the horse.
‘Well, yes. But I always thought there’d be some more. I always thought there’d be some more edges.' (TB)
'... if I didn’t try my father would turn in his mound.’
‘You told me he drove you out of the tribe when you were eleven.’
‘Best day’s work he ever did. Taught me to stand on other people’s feet.' (TB)
'No treasure,’said Cohen. ‘Spent it all. Drank it all. Gave it all away. Lost it.’
‘You should have saved some for your old age.’
‘Never thought I’d have an old age.' (TB)
He has survived by never giving up and never playing fair (PP)
