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 never quite right, all the things we are taught, all the loves we chase, all the deaths we die, all the lives we live.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our understanding of life is often shaped by the teachings, pursuits, and experiences that may not reflect the true essence of existence.
This quote by Charles Bukowski reflects the inherent imperfections and complexities of life. It suggests that our education, romantic pursuits, and experiences of loss are often inadequate in capturing the entirety of our existence, hinting at the paradox and contradiction inherent in the human experience.
Themes
LifeExperienceExistenceLearningLove
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical discussion about the meaning 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
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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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