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
The worst thing for a writer is to know another writer, and worse than that, to know a number of other writers. Like flies on the same turd.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers can feel threatened by the presence of their peers, which can lead to feelings of competition and discomfort.
In this quote, Charles Bukowski expresses the notion that a writer's creativity can be stifled by the awareness of other writers. The metaphor of 'flies on the same turd' suggests that writers often find themselves in a competitive and unattractive environment when surrounded by others in their field, leading to insecurity and a diminished sense of individuality.
Themes
WritersCompetitionCreativityInsecurityIndividuality
In practice
Example use cases
In a writers' group discussion to highlight the drawbacks of comparison.
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.
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.
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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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