Top 100 Charles Bukowski Quotes

Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) was an American author and poet. He was born in Germany and moved to the United States at the age of three. Bukowski is known for his gritty and raw writing style, which often depicted the harsh realities of urban life and the struggles of the working class.

Bukowski began his writing career in the 1940s, but his breakthrough came in the 1960s when he started publishing his poetry in literary magazines. He gained a cult following and went on to publish numerous collections of poetry, as well as several novels and short story collections.

Bukowski's writing is often characterized by its use of explicit language and its frank portrayal of sex, alcoholism, and other taboo subjects. He is considered a key figure in the "dirty realism" movement of literature, which focused on the lives of marginalized and working-class people.

Some of Bukowski's most famous works include the novels "Post Office," "Factotum," and "Ham on Rye," as well as the poetry collections "Love is a Dog From Hell" and "The Last Night of the Earth Poems." Bukowski's work has been translated into numerous languages and has had a lasting impact on American literature.

Charles Bukowski Quotes

1. "I don't hate people. I just feel better when they're not around."

2. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

3. "Find what you love and let it kill you."

4. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

5. "If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start."

6. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

7. "I don't believe in anything. I'm just here for the violence."

8. "The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good when you are near or with them."

9. "I don't know about other people, but when I wake up in the morning and put my shoes on, I think, Jesus Christ, now what?"

10. "I have never met a happy writer. Or a happy artist, come to think of it."

11. "We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."

12. "To do a dull thing with style-now that's what I call art."

13. "I don't hate women - they just sometimes make me mad."

14. "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

15. "Don't try."

16. "I was drawn to all the wrong things: I liked to drink, I was lazy, I didn't have a god, politics, ideas, ideals. I was settled into nothingness; a kind of non-being, and I accepted it. I didn't make for an interesting person."

17. "The less I needed, the better I felt."

18. "We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know."

19. "I've never been lonely. I've been in a room -- I've felt suicidal. I've been depressed. I've felt awful -- awful beyond all -- but I never felt that one other person could enter that room and cure what was bothering me...or that any number of people could enter that room. In other words, loneliness is something I've never been bothered with because I've always had this terrible itch for solitude."

20. "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph."

21. "The best way to stay sane is to go a little crazy now and then."

22. "I don't like jail, they got the wrong kind of bars in there."

23. "We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."

24. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

25. "Writing is something that you don't know how to do. You sit down and it's something that happens, or it may not happen. It's like the landscape changing, and you're walking through it."

26. "I never met another man I'd rather be. And even if that's a delusion, it's a lucky one."

27. "What matters most is how well you walk through the fire."

Charles Bukowski Quotes On Love

1. "Love is a fog that burns with the first daylight of reality."

2. "We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that death will tremble to take us."

3. "Love is a horse with a broken leg trying to stand up."

4. "Love is kind of like when you see a fog in the morning, when you wake up before the sun comes out. It's just a little while, and then it burns away... Love is a fog that burns with the first daylight of reality."

5. "Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star."

6. "Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star."

7. "I loved you like a man loves a woman he never touches, only writes to, keeps little photographs of."

8. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

9. "I was drawn to all the wrong things: I liked to drink, I was lazy, I didn't have a god, politics, ideas, ideals. I was settled into nothingness; a kind of non-being, and I accepted it. I didn't make for an interesting person."

10. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

11. "The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them."

12. "We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that death will tremble to take us."

13. "The less I needed, the better I felt."

14. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

15. "I wasn't much interested in grades. I never have been. My mind always worked in a different way. It never quite fit the system. And that was fine with me."

16. "I guess the only time most people think about injustice is when it happens to them."

17. "If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose."

18. "The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you."

19. "We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities; we are eaten up by nothing."

20. "I wanted the whole world or nothing."

21. "The shortest distance between two points is often unbearable."

22. "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

23. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

24. "When you're really drunk, you can't help but be impressed with yourself."

25. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

Charles Bukowski Quotes On Life

1. "We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that death will tremble to take us."

2. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

3. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

4. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

5. "Find what you love and let it kill you."

6. "I don't hate people, I just feel better when they're not around."

7. "Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way."

8. "The less I needed, the better I felt."

9. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

10. "I don't know about other people, but when I wake up in the morning and put my shoes on, I think, 'Jesus Christ, now what?'"

11. "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

12. "If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start."

13. "If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose."

14. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

15. "I've never been lonely. I've been in a room -- I've felt suicidal. I've been depressed. I've felt awful -- awful beyond all -- but I never felt that one other person could enter that room and cure what was bothering me...or that any number of people could enter that room. In other words, loneliness is something I've never been bothered with because I've always had this terrible itch for solitude."

16. "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

17. "I never met another man I'd rather be. And even if that's a delusion, it's a lucky one."

18. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

19. "We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."

20. "The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them."

21. "Boring damned people. All over the earth. Propagating more boring damned people. What a horror show. The earth swarmed with them."

22. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

23. "The difference between a madman and a professional is that a pro does as well as he can within what he has set out to do and a madman does exceptionally well at what he can't help doing."

24. "I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive."

25. "The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you."

Charles Bukowski Quotes On Work

1. "I have one of two choices—stay in the post office and go crazy . . . or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to starve."

2. "How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 8:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?"

3. "The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you."

4. "Find what you love and let it kill you."

5. "Writing is the ultimate form of democracy."

6. "My ambition is handicapped by laziness."

7. "The less I needed, the better I felt."

8. "I've never been much of a writer, but I'm a hell of a typist."

9. "We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."

10. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

11. "I don't hate people. I just feel better when they aren't around."

12. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

13. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

14. "I guess the only time most people think about injustice is when it happens to them."

15. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

16. "I don't know about other people, but when I wake up in the morning and put my shoes on, I think, 'Jesus Christ, now what?'"

17. "I don't believe in anything, but I'm open to everything."

18. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

19. "I'm not a great writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter."

20. "If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start."

21. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

22. "I never met another man I'd rather be. And even if that's a delusion, it's a lucky one."

23. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

24. "You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics."

25. "Writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all."

Charles Bukowski Quotes Intelligent

1. "The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them."

2. "Find what you love and let it kill you."

3. "I don't hate people, I just feel better when they're not around."

4. "We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."

5. "I don't know about other people, but when I wake up in the morning and put my shoes on, I think, 'Jesus Christ, now what?'"

6. "What is terrible is not death but the lives people live or don't live up until their death."

7. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

8. "To do a dull thing with style - now that's what I call art."

9. "We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."

10. "Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way."

11. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

12. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

13. "The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

14. "The less I needed, the better I felt."

15. "The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you."

16. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

17. "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

18. "We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by life's trivialities."

19. "I'm not a genius. I'm just a hard-working guy."

20. "The less I needed, the better I felt."

21. "People empty me. I have to get away to refill."

22. "I don't know if I'm an alcoholic, but I do drink too much, and when I do, I don't behave well."

23. "I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money."

24. "My ambition is handicapped by laziness."

25. "We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and -- in spite of True Romance magazines -- we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way."

Charles Bukowski Quotes About Women

1. "Women are soft, and yet powerful. Intuitive, and yet deep. There is no wonder men are falling apart without them."

2. "I don't know about other men, but I've had brief moments of sexual satisfaction followed by long periods of guilt and loneliness."

3. "Women are a curse, a plague. They get you drunk, they get you high, and then they leave you to die in the gutter."

4. "I'm not a misogynist. I love women. I just hate how they can make you feel."

5. "I don't hate women. I just don't trust them."

6. "Women are the most fascinating creatures on earth, and they're also the most dangerous."

7. "Women are the most beautiful things in the world, but they're also the most destructive."

8. "I don't think women are better than men, but I do think they are smarter and more intuitive."

9. "Women are like a drug. They can lift you up to heaven or drag you down to hell."

10. "Women are like a fire. They can warm your soul or burn you alive."

11. "Women are like a storm. They can be calm and peaceful or wild and destructive."

12. "Women are like a puzzle. They can be easy to figure out or impossible to understand."

13. "Women are like a mystery. They can be fascinating or frustrating."

14. "Women are like a dream. They can be beautiful or terrifying."

15. "Women are like a song. They can be sweet or sad."

16. "Women are like a rose. They can be beautiful or painful."

17. "Women are like a book. They can be inspiring or boring."

18. "Women are like a sunrise. They can be refreshing or blinding."

19. "Women are like a sunset. They can be peaceful or melancholic."

20. "Women are like a painting. They can be colorful or dull."

21. "Women are like a river. They can be calm or turbulent."

22. "Women are like a bird. They can be free or trapped."

23. "Women are like a light. They can illuminate your life or blind you."

24. "Women are like a mirror. They can reflect your best or worst qualities."

25. "Women are like a diamond. They can be valuable or worthless."

Thought Provoking Charles Bukowski Quotes

1. "Find what you love and let it kill you."

2. "We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."

3. "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

4. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

5. "The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them."

6. "I don't hate people. I just feel better when they aren't around."

7. "I don't know about other people, but when I wake up in the morning and put my shoes on, I think, Jesus Christ, now what?"

8. "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way."

9. "The less I needed, the better I felt."

10. "I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and of little value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them."

11. "The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting."

12. "I'm not a genius. I'm just a hard-working guy."

13. "I've never been lonely. I've been in a room -- I've felt suicidal. I've been depressed. I've felt awful -- awful beyond all -- but I never felt that one other person could enter that room and cure what was bothering me...or that any number of people could enter that room. In other words, loneliness is something I've never been bothered with because I've always had this terrible itch for solitude. It's being at a party, or at a stadium full of people cheering for something, that I might feel loneliness. I'll quote Ibsen, "The strongest men are the most alone." I've never thought, "Well, some beautiful blonde will come in here and give me a fuck-job, rub my balls, and I'll feel good." No, that won't help. You know the typical crowd, "Wow, it's Friday night, what are you going to do? Just sit there?" Well, yeah. Because there's nothing out there. It's stupidity. Stupid people mingling with stupid people. Let them stupidify themselves. I've never been bothered with the need to rush out into the night. I hid in bars, because I didn't want to hide in factories. That's all. Sorry for all the millions, but I've never been lonely. I like myself. I'm the best form of entertainment I have."

14. "I don't know anything about music. In my line, you don't have to."

15. "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."

16. "The shortest distance between two points is often unbearable."

17. "Writing is something that you don't know how to do. You sit down and it's something that happens, or it may not happen. It's not something that you can will to happen. It's not like coming out of a assembly line."

18. "If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start."

Charles Bukowski Quotes Beautiful Creatures

1. "She's a beauty, isn't she? A purebred Arabian, with eyes like black diamonds and a spirit that could move mountains."

2. "The most beautiful creatures are often the most dangerous."

3. "She was a wild creature, unbreakable and untamable, with a spirit that could never be chained."

4. "Beauty is a cruel mistress. She can lure you in with a single glance and destroy you with a single word."

5. "There are some creatures that are just too beautiful for this world. They belong in some other realm, some other time, where they can shine and be appreciated for what they truly are."

6. "She was a creature of the night, with eyes that glinted like stars and a soul that burned like fire."

7. "Beauty is a curse as well as a blessing. It can bring you everything you've ever wanted, and it can take everything away from you just as easily."

8. "Some creatures are so beautiful, they make you ache just to look at them."

9. "She was a creature of the earth, with skin like warm honey and eyes like deep pools of water."

10. "Beauty is a weapon, and some creatures wield it with deadly precision."

11. "The most beautiful creatures are often the loneliest. They are admired from afar, but never truly understood."

12. "She was a creature of the sea, with hair like seaweed and eyes like the stormy ocean."

13. "Beauty is a fleeting thing, here one moment and gone the next. But some creatures seem to hold onto it forever."

14. "She was a creature of the forest, with a voice like birdsong and a heart like the ancient trees."

15. "The most beautiful creatures are often the ones that are the most broken."

16. "Beauty is a trap, and some creatures are born into it with no hope of ever escaping."

17. "She was a creature of the sky, with wings like an angel and eyes like the sun."

18. "Some creatures are so beautiful, they make you forget about everything else in the world."

19. "Beauty is a mystery, and some creatures seem to hold the key to unlocking it."

20. "She was a creature of the desert, with skin like sand and eyes like the endless sky."

21. "The most beautiful creatures are often the ones that have suffered the most."

22. "Beauty is a curse that some creatures bear with grace and others with bitterness."

23. "She was a creature of the mountains, with hair like snow and eyes like the stars."

24. "Some creatures are so beautiful, they seem almost otherworldly."

25. "Beauty is a gift that some creatures are given, and others have to fight for every day of their lives."

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