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
It’s not so much that nothing means anything but more that it keeps meaning nothing. there’s no release, just gurus and self- appointed gods and hucksters. the more people say, the less there is to say. even the best books are dry sawdust.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects a sense of disillusionment with the meaninglessness found in modern discourse and literature.
Charles Bukowski's quote captures a sentiment of frustration with the superficiality and emptiness he perceives in society's conversations and literary works. He suggests that despite the abundance of words and philosophies offered by various figures, the essence of meaning is diminishing, leading to a cycle where more is said but less is genuinely conveyed. This commentary critiques the pretentiousness found in both self-proclaimed gurus and the broader cultural landscape.
Themes
MeaninglessnessDisillusionmentPhilosophySocietyCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical debate discussing the significance of modern literature.
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
Similar quotes
I hate American simplicity. I glory in the piling up of complications of every sort. If I could pronounce the name James in any different or more elaborate way I should be in favor of doing it.
Henry JamesRead
Many people believe that our lives end not when we die but when the very last person who knew us dies. Memory is part of it, yes, but I think it's much more than memory.
Douglas HofstadterRead
Justice is the crowning glory of the virtues.
Marcus Tullius CiceroRead
If it had not been for the pernicious power of envy, men would not so have exalted vengeance above innocence and profit above justice... in these acts of revenge on others, men take it upon themselves to begin the process of repealing those general laws of humanity which are there to give a hope of salvation to all who are in distress.
ThucydidesRead
If it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul.
William ShakespeareRead
Things looked at patiently from one side after another generally end by showing a side that is beautiful.
Robert Louis StevensonRead