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
I walk into the kitchen, look at the typer down there on the floor. It's a dirty floor. It's a dirty typer that types dirty stories
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the raw reality of life and creativity, symbolizing how art often emerges from imperfect or messy situations.
In this quote, Charles Bukowski uses the imagery of a dirty floor and a dirty typewriter to illustrate the often unglamorous and imperfect nature of the writing process and creativity. It suggests that the act of creating art, such as writing, can be found in the mundane and flawed aspects of life, and that these imperfections can lead to authentic and powerful storytelling.
Themes
ArtCreativityImperfectionWritingLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the creative process, I might say, 'As Bukowski reminds us, our art can come from the messiest parts of life.'
More from Charles Bukowski
All quotes →when I am feeling low all i have to do is watch my cats and my courage returns
Charles BukowskiRead
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.
Charles BukowskiRead
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.
Charles BukowskiRead
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.
Charles BukowskiRead
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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