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
They looked as if nothing had ever touched them--all well-mothered, protected, with a soft sheen of contentment. None of them had ever been in jail, or worked hard with their hands, or even gotten a traffic ticket. Skimmed-milk jollies, the whole bunch.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on a life of privilege and comfort, contrasting it with the struggles of the less fortunate.
In this quote, Charles Bukowski critiques a group of people who seem untouched by the harsh realities of life. He suggests that their easy, sheltered existence has left them naive and unaware of the challenges that many face. By comparing them to 'skimmed-milk jollies', Bukowski implies that they lack depth and richness in their experiences, which ultimately reduces their understanding of life’s complexities.
Themes
PrivilegeNaivetyContentmentStruggleSheltered
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on social inequality, one might use this quote to highlight differences in life experiences.
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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