quotes by Charles Bukowski

"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." "
— Charles Bukowski (The Movie: Barfly)

"For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
— Charles Bukowski

"That's the problem with drinking, I thought, as I poured myself a drink. If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen."
— Charles Bukowski (Women: A Novel)

"my beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world."
— Charles Bukowski

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

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

"You begin saving the world by saving one man at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics."
— Charles Bukowski (Women: A Novel)

"the writing of some
men
is like a vast bridge
that carries you
over
the many things
that claw and tear."
— Charles Bukowski

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

"Poetry is what happens when nothing else can."
— Charles Bukowski

"what matters most is how well you walk through the fire"
— 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"
— Charles Bukowski

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

"I don't hate people, I just feel better when they aren't around. "
— Charles Bukowski

"I wanted the whole world or nothing."
— Charles Bukowski (Post Office)

"My ambition is handicapped by laziness"
— Charles Bukowski (Factotum)

"Nothing was ever in tune. People just blindly grabbed at whatever there was: communism, health foods, zen, surfing, ballet, hypnotism, group encounters, orgies, biking, herbs, Catholicism, weight-lifting, travel, withdrawal, vegetarianism, India, painting, writing, sculpting, composing, conducting, backpacking, yoga, copulating, gambling, drinking, hanging around, frozen yogurt, Beethoven, Back, Buddha, Christ, TM, H, carrot juice, suicide, handmade suits, jet travel, New York City, and then it all evaporated and fell apart. People had to find things to do while waiting to die. I guess it was nice to have a choice."
— Charles Bukowski (Women)

"Show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually clean kitchen, and 8 times out of 9 I'll show you a man with detestable spiritual qualities."
— Charles Bukowski