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
Long ago, among other lies they were taught that silence was bravery.
Interpretation
This quote critiques the misconception that silence equates to courage.
In this quote, Charles Bukowski expresses the idea that many people have been misled to believe that remaining silent in the face of adversity or injustice is a form of bravery. He suggests that this societal teaching is a deception, emphasizing that true bravery often involves speaking out and confronting challenges rather than passively accepting them.
In practice
In a motivational speech about standing up for oneself.
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.
when I am feeling low all i have to do is watch my cats and my courage returns
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.
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.
To experience real agony is something hard to write about, impossible to understand while it grips you; you're frightened out of your wits, canβt sit still, move, or even go decently insane.
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 donβt 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.
Don't mind your make-up, you'd better make your mind up.
When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick
It is useful to constantly observe, note, and consider.
Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none, although they give occasion.
Each day, life will send you little windows of opportunity. Your destiny will ultimately be defined by how you respond to these windows of opportunity. Shrink from them and your life will be small, feel the fear and run to them anyway, and you life will be big. Life's just too short to play little.
Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.