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
That was the trouble with being a writer, that was the main trouble—leisure time, excessive leisure time. You had to wait around for the buildup until you could write and while you were waiting you went crazy, and while you were going crazy you drank and the more you drank the crazier you got.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the struggles of a writer dealing with the challenges of procrastination and the consequences of excessive leisure time.
In this quote, Charles Bukowski reflects on the peculiar challenges faced by writers, particularly the tension between the need for inspiration and the burdens of idleness. He suggests that while the waiting period for inspiration can cause madness and lead to self-destructive behaviors like drinking, it is a common plight for many creative individuals, thus encapsulating the often tumultuous relationship between creativity and mental health.
Themes
WriterCreativityLeisureMadnessDrinking
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the challenges faced by artists, this quote can be introduced to highlight the darker side of creativity.
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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