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100 Thought-Provoking Charles Bukowski Quotes

Famous As: Poet and Author Known for His Work “Mockingbird Wish Me Luck,” and “Love Is a Dog from Hell”
Born On: August 16, 1920
Died On: March 9, 1994
Born In: Andernach, Germany
Died At Age: 73
Heinrich Karl Bukowski, better known as Henry Charles Bukowski, was a German-born American novelist, short story writer and poet, who is included among the influential poets to have enriched American literature during their lifetime. Bukowski’s works were primarily focused on the social and economic situation in Los Angeles, the city in which he lived. Bukowski’s poems, short stories and novels dealt with the lives of downtrodden and poorer sections of the American population, which made TIME magazine describe him as the ‘laureate of American lowlife’. He produced a staggering amount of work throughout his career with the number of poems running into thousands. In addition to that he wrote six novels as well as plenty of short stories. Some of his well-known poetry collections include ‘The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills’, ‘Scarlet’ and ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ among others. On the other hand, ‘Post Office’, ‘Hollywood’ and ‘Ham on Rye’ are some of his well known novels. Bukowski also wrote for an underground publication named Open City. He was a highly intelligent man, who had a unique take on the world. We bring to you some of the best known quotes from Charles Bukowski’s life, times and work. Some of these quotes are excerpted from Charles Bukowski's poems, novels and short stories.
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Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.

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

Charles Bukowski
Do you hate people?”

“I don't hate them...I just feel better when they're not around.

Do you hate people?” “I don't hate them...I just feel better when they're not around.

Charles Bukowski
Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I'm not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you've felt that way.

Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I'm not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you've felt that way.

Charles Bukowski
What matters most is how well you walk through the fire

What matters most is how well you walk through the fire

Charles Bukowski
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.

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.

Charles Bukowski
My ambition is handicapped by laziness

My ambition is handicapped by laziness

Charles Bukowski
You have to die a few times before you can really
live.

You have to die a few times before you can really live.

Charles Bukowski
I wanted the whole world or nothing.

I wanted the whole world or nothing.

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

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

Charles Bukowski
An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.

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

Charles Bukowski
There are worse things
than being alone
but it often takes
decades to realize this
and most often when you do
it's too late
and there's nothing worse
than too late

There are worse things than being alone but it often takes decades to realize this and most often when you do it's too late and there's nothing worse than too late

Charles Bukowski
If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose

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

Charles Bukowski
Find what you love and let it kill you.

Find what you love and let it kill you.

Charles Bukowski
Real loneliness is not necessarily limited to when you are alone.

Real loneliness is not necessarily limited to when you are alone.

Charles Bukowski
Some lose all mind and become soul,insane.
some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual.
some lose both and become accepted

Some lose all mind and become soul,insane. some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual. some lose both and become accepted

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

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

Charles Bukowski
Being alone never felt right. sometimes it felt good, but it never felt right.

Being alone never felt right. sometimes it felt good, but it never felt right.

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

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

Charles Bukowski
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.

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.

Charles Bukowski
Those who escape hell
however
never talk about
it
and nothing much
bothers them
after
that.

Those who escape hell however never talk about it and nothing much bothers them after that.

Charles Bukowski
A love like that was a serious illness, an illness from which you never entirely recover.

A love like that was a serious illness, an illness from which you never entirely recover.

Charles Bukowski
There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you.

There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you.

Charles Bukowski
Poetry is what happens when nothing else can.

Poetry is what happens when nothing else can.

Charles Bukowski
Of course it's possible to love a human being if you don't know them too well.

Of course it's possible to love a human being if you don't know them too well.

Charles Bukowski
I remember awakening one morning and finding everything smeared with the color of forgotten love.

I remember awakening one morning and finding everything smeared with the color of forgotten love.

Charles Bukowski
Sex is kicking death in the ass while singing.

Sex is kicking death in the ass while singing.

Charles Bukowski
People with no morals often considered themselves more free, but mostly they lacked the ability to feel or love.

People with no morals often considered themselves more free, but mostly they lacked the ability to feel or love.

Charles Bukowski
Sometimes you just have to pee in the sink.

Sometimes you just have to pee in the sink.

Charles Bukowski
I stopped looking for a Dream Girl, I just wanted one that wasn't a nightmare.

I stopped looking for a Dream Girl, I just wanted one that wasn't a nightmare.

Charles Bukowski
There is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock

There is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock

Charles Bukowski
Baby,

Baby," I said, "I'm a genius but nobody knows it but me.

Charles Bukowski
You boys can keep your virgins 
give me hot old women in high heels 
with asses that forgot to get old.

You boys can keep your virgins give me hot old women in high heels with asses that forgot to get old.

Charles Bukowski
There is always one woman to save you from another and as that woman saves you she makes ready to destroy

There is always one woman to save you from another and as that woman saves you she makes ready to destroy

Charles Bukowski
The shortest distance between two points is often unbearable.

The shortest distance between two points is often unbearable.

Charles Bukowski
Life's as kind as you let it be.

Life's as kind as you let it be.

Charles Bukowski
My beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world.

My beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world.

Charles Bukowski
We are like roses that have never bothered to bloom when we should have bloomed and it is as if the sun has become disgusted with waiting

We are like roses that have never bothered to bloom when we should have bloomed and it is as if the sun has become disgusted with waiting

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

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

Charles Bukowski
What a weary time those years were -- to have the desire and the need to live but not the ability.

What a weary time those years were -- to have the desire and the need to live but not the ability.

Charles Bukowski
I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed but all I could do was to get drunk again.

I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed but all I could do was to get drunk again.

Charles Bukowski
She was consumed by 3 simple things:
drink, despair, loneliness; and 2 more:
youth and beauty

She was consumed by 3 simple things: drink, despair, loneliness; and 2 more: youth and beauty

Charles Bukowski
I often carry things to read
so that I will not have to look at
the people.

I often carry things to read so that I will not have to look at the people.

Charles Bukowski
Things get bad for all of us, almost continually, and what we do under the constant stress reveals who/what we are.

Things get bad for all of us, almost continually, and what we do under the constant stress reveals who/what we are.

Charles Bukowski
Without literature, life is hell.

Without literature, life is hell.

Charles Bukowski
...in that drunken place
you would
like to hand your heart to her
and say
touch it
but then
give it back.

...in that drunken place you would like to hand your heart to her and say touch it but then give it back.

Charles Bukowski
Lighting new cigarettes,
pouring more
drinks. 

It has been a beautiful 
fight. 

Still
is.

Lighting new cigarettes, pouring more drinks. It has been a beautiful fight. Still is.

Charles Bukowski
We don’t even ask happiness, just a little less pain.

We don’t even ask happiness, just a little less pain.

Charles Bukowski
Great art is horseshit, buy tacos.

Great art is horseshit, buy tacos.

Charles Bukowski
Dogs and angels are not
very far apart

Dogs and angels are not very far apart

Charles Bukowski
She was desperate and she was choosey 
at the same time and, in a way, beautiful, but she didn't have quite enough going for her to become what 
she imagined herself to be.

She was desperate and she was choosey at the same time and, in a way, beautiful, but she didn't have quite enough going for her to become what she imagined herself to be.

Charles Bukowski
There are times when those eyes inside your brain stare back at you.

There are times when those eyes inside your brain stare back at you.

Charles Bukowski
It wasn’t my day. My week. My month. My year. My life. God damn it.

It wasn’t my day. My week. My month. My year. My life. God damn it.

Charles Bukowski
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

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

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

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

Charles Bukowski
I drive around the streets
an inch away from weeping,
ashamed of my sentimentality and
possible love.

I drive around the streets an inch away from weeping, ashamed of my sentimentality and possible love.

Charles Bukowski
Some moments are nice, some are
nicer, some are even worth
writing
about.

Some moments are nice, some are nicer, some are even worth writing about.

Charles Bukowski
And yet women-good women--frightened me because they eventually wanted your soul, and what was left of mine, I wanted to keep.

And yet women-good women--frightened me because they eventually wanted your soul, and what was left of mine, I wanted to keep.

Charles Bukowski
I carry death in my left pocket. Sometimes I take it out and talk to it:

I carry death in my left pocket. Sometimes I take it out and talk to it: "Hello, baby, how you doing? When you coming for me? I'll be ready.

Charles Bukowski
I'm going, she said. I love you but you're
crazy, you're doomed.

I'm going, she said. I love you but you're crazy, you're doomed.

Charles Bukowski
I want so much that is not here and do not know
where to go.

I want so much that is not here and do not know where to go.

Charles Bukowski
Love is all right for those who can handle the psychic overload. It's like trying to carry a full garbage can on your back over a rushing river of piss.

Love is all right for those who can handle the psychic overload. It's like trying to carry a full garbage can on your back over a rushing river of piss.

Charles Bukowski
You son of a bitch, she said, I am
trying to build a meaningful
relationship.

you can't build it with a hammer,
he said.

You son of a bitch, she said, I am trying to build a meaningful relationship. you can't build it with a hammer, he said.

Charles Bukowski
Too often the people complain that they have done nothing with their
lives and then they wait for somebody to tell them that this isn't so.

Too often the people complain that they have done nothing with their lives and then they wait for somebody to tell them that this isn't so.

Charles Bukowski
Anything is a waste of time unless you are fucking well or creating well or getting well or looming toward a kind of phantom-love-happiness.

Anything is a waste of time unless you are fucking well or creating well or getting well or looming toward a kind of phantom-love-happiness.

Charles Bukowski
It was like the beginning of life and laughter. It was the real meaning of the sun

It was like the beginning of life and laughter. It was the real meaning of the sun

Charles Bukowski
Each man's hell is in a different place: 
mine is just up and behind
my ruined face.

Each man's hell is in a different place: mine is just up and behind my ruined face.

Charles Bukowski
She is no longer
the beautiful woman
she was. she sends
photos of herself
sitting upon a rock
by the ocean
alone and damned.
I could have had
her once. I wonder
if she thinks I
could have
saved her?

She is no longer the beautiful woman she was. she sends photos of herself sitting upon a rock by the ocean alone and damned. I could have had her once. I wonder if she thinks I could have saved her?

Charles Bukowski
The trouble with a mask is it never changes

The trouble with a mask is it never changes

Charles Bukowski
In the morning it was morning and I was still alive.

In the morning it was morning and I was still alive.

Charles Bukowski
If you get married they think you're
finished
and if you are without a woman they think you're
incomplete.

If you get married they think you're finished and if you are without a woman they think you're incomplete.

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

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

Charles Bukowski
The fuckers. There, I feel better. God-damned human race. There, I feel better.

The fuckers. There, I feel better. God-damned human race. There, I feel better.

Charles Bukowski
I wish to weep
but sorrow is
stupid.
I wish to believe
but belief is a
graveyard.

I wish to weep but sorrow is stupid. I wish to believe but belief is a graveyard.

Charles Bukowski
The tigers have found me
and I do not care.

The tigers have found me and I do not care.

Charles Bukowski
‎

‎"she’ mad but she’ magic. there’ no lie in her fire.

Charles Bukowski
I said goodbye again
sucking up all that was left of her into the
little that was left of
me. I said, 'don't look for me again. fuck it.
we are all lost. goodbye, goodbye.

I said goodbye again sucking up all that was left of her into the little that was left of me. I said, 'don't look for me again. fuck it. we are all lost. goodbye, goodbye.

Charles Bukowski
So it's always a process of letting go, one way or another

So it's always a process of letting go, one way or another

Charles Bukowski
People run from rain but
sit
in bathtubs full of
water.

People run from rain but sit in bathtubs full of water.

Charles Bukowski
Nothing can save 
you 
except 
writing. 
it keeps the walls 
from 
failing.

Nothing can save you except writing. it keeps the walls from failing.

Charles Bukowski
In this land some of us fuck more than 
we die but most of us die 
better than we fuck

In this land some of us fuck more than we die but most of us die better than we fuck

Charles Bukowski
Writers are desperate people and when they stop being desperate they stop being writers.

Writers are desperate people and when they stop being desperate they stop being writers.

Charles Bukowski
Beauty is nothing, beauty won’t stay. You don’t know how lucky you are to be ugly, because if people like you, you know it’s for something else.

Beauty is nothing, beauty won’t stay. You don’t know how lucky you are to be ugly, because if people like you, you know it’s for something else.

Charles Bukowski
I wasn't a misanthrope and I wasn't a misogynist but I liked being alone. It felt good to sit alone in a small space and smoke and drink. I had always been good company for myself.

I wasn't a misanthrope and I wasn't a misogynist but I liked being alone. It felt good to sit alone in a small space and smoke and drink. I had always been good company for myself.

Charles Bukowski
Any asshole can chase a skirt, art takes discipline.

Any asshole can chase a skirt, art takes discipline.

Charles Bukowski
He asked,

He asked, "What makes a man a writer?" "Well," I said, "it's simple. You either get it down on paper, or jump off a bridge.

Charles Bukowski
Nobody can save you but yourself and you’re worth saving. it’s a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning then this is it.

Nobody can save you but yourself and you’re worth saving. it’s a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning then this is it.

Charles Bukowski
Whiskey makes the heart beat faster
but it sure doesn't help the
mind and isn't it funny how you can ache just
from the deadly drone of
existence?

Whiskey makes the heart beat faster but it sure doesn't help the mind and isn't it funny how you can ache just from the deadly drone of existence?

Charles Bukowski
One can never be sure whether it's good poetry or bad acid

One can never be sure whether it's good poetry or bad acid

Charles Bukowski
To fight for each minute is to 
fight for what is possible within
yourself,
so that your life and your death
will not be like
theirs.

To fight for each minute is to fight for what is possible within yourself, so that your life and your death will not be like theirs.

Charles Bukowski
People are strange: They are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.

People are strange: They are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.

Charles Bukowski
And then there are some who
believe that old
relationships can be
revived and made new
again.

but please
if you feel that way

don't phone 
don't write
don't arrive

And then there are some who believe that old relationships can be revived and made new again. but please if you feel that way don't phone don't write don't arrive

Charles Bukowski
I had noticed that both in the very poor and very rich extremes of society the mad were often allowed to mingle freely.

I had noticed that both in the very poor and very rich extremes of society the mad were often allowed to mingle freely.

Charles Bukowski
Nothing is worse than to finish a good shit, then reach over and find the toilet paper container empty. Even the most horrible human being on earth deserves to wipe his ass.

Nothing is worse than to finish a good shit, then reach over and find the toilet paper container empty. Even the most horrible human being on earth deserves to wipe his ass.

Charles Bukowski
In my next life I want to be a cat. To sleep 20 hours a day and wait to be fed. To sit around licking my ass.

In my next life I want to be a cat. To sleep 20 hours a day and wait to be fed. To sit around licking my ass.

Charles Bukowski
It was better for me when I could imagine greatness in others, even if it wasn't always there.

It was better for me when I could imagine greatness in others, even if it wasn't always there.

Charles Bukowski
It's better to do a dull thing with style than a dangerous thing without it.

It's better to do a dull thing with style than a dangerous thing without it.

Charles Bukowski
I didn't have any friends at school, didn't want any. I felt better being alone. I sat on a bench and watched the others play and they looked foolish to me.

I didn't have any friends at school, didn't want any. I felt better being alone. I sat on a bench and watched the others play and they looked foolish to me.

Charles Bukowski
The more crap you believe, the better off you are.

The more crap you believe, the better off you are.

Charles Bukowski
The best often die by their own hand 
just to get away, 
and those left behind
can never quite understand 
why anybody
would ever want to 
get away 
from 
them

The best often die by their own hand just to get away, and those left behind can never quite understand why anybody would ever want to get away from them

Charles Bukowski
It was a joy! Words weren't dull, words were things that could make your mind hum. If you read them and let yourself feel the magic, you could live without pain, with hope, no matter what happened to you.

It was a joy! Words weren't dull, words were things that could make your mind hum. If you read them and let yourself feel the magic, you could live without pain, with hope, no matter what happened to you.

Charles Bukowski