I can never drive my car over a bridge without thinking of suicide. I can never look at a lake or an ocean without thinking of suicide.
Charles BukowskiRead
Existence was not only absurd, it was plain hard work. Think of how many times you put on your underwear in a lifetime. It was appalling, it was disgusting, it was stupid.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life can often feel absurd and mundane, filled with repetitive tasks that challenge our purpose.
In this quote, Charles Bukowski highlights the absurdity and difficulty of existence, using the seemingly trivial act of putting on underwear as a metaphor for the often overlooked challenges of daily life. He emphasizes that the routine aspects of life can feel appalling or senseless, provoking a reflection on the deeper meaning behind our existence and the struggles we face in the pursuit of purpose amidst the banalities.
Themes
ExistenceAbsurdityLifeHard WorkRoutineStruggle
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about resilience in daily life, one might say, 'As Bukowski noted, existence was not only absurd, it was plain hard work.'
More from Charles Bukowski
All quotes →when I am feeling low all i have to do is watch my cats and my courage returns
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The masses are always wrong...Wisdom is doing everything the crowd does not do. All you do is reverse the totality of their learning and you have the heaven they're looking for.
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I'm going to open another vottle. not a vottle, but a bottle. you open it and I'll drink it. and you try to write as much as I did without falling off of your chair.
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To experience real agony is something hard to write about, impossible to understand while it grips you; you're frightened out of your wits, can’t sit still, move, or even go decently insane.
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I lapsed into my pathetic cut-off period. Often with humans, both good and bad, my senses simply shut off, they get tired, I give up. I am polite. I nod. I pretend to understand because I don’t want anybody to be hurt. That is the one weakness that has lead me into the most trouble. Trying to be kind to others I often get my soul shredded into a kind of spiritual pasta. No matter. My brain shuts off. I listen. I respond. And they are too dumb to know that I am not there.
Charles BukowskiRead
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