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
there are worse things than being alone but it often takes decades to realize this and most often when you do it's too late and there's nothing worse than too late
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being alone can have its downsides, but it's often perceived more negatively than it should be.
This quote by Charles Bukowski conveys the idea that solitude, while often viewed as undesirable, can be more favorable than other negative life experiences. It emphasizes that it may take a long time for people to recognize the value of solitude, suggesting that by the time they understand it, they may have missed the opportunity to embrace it. Thus, the profound realization often comes too late, leading to regret over not appreciating one's own company.
Themes
SolitudeRealizationNeglectValueTime
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about self-discovery, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of appreciating solitude.
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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We no longer dare to believe in beauty and we make of it a mere appearance in order the more easily to dispose of it.
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Men think they think upon the great political questions, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but not that of the other side
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