“Baby," I said. "I'm a genius but nobody knows it but me.”
Charles Bukowski book Factotum
Source: Factotum (1975), Ch. 31
Charles Bukowski: 555 quotes288 likes
Charles Bukowski Quotes
“Lighting new cigarettes,
pouring more
drinks.
It has been a beautiful
fight.
Still
is.”
Source: You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
“I want so much that is not here and do not know
where to go.”
Source: The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems, 1946-1966
“I'm going, she said. I love you but you're
crazy, you're doomed.”
Charles Bukowski book Love Is a Dog from Hell
Source: Love Is a Dog from Hell
“I wish to weep
but sorrow is
stupid.
I wish to believe
but belief is a
graveyard.”
Source: What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
“The fuckers. There, I feel better. God-damned human race. There, I feel better.”
Source: The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship
Charles Bukowski book Factotum
Source: Factotum (1975), Ch. 73
Context: There were always men looking for jobs in America. There were always all these usable bodies. And I wanted to be a writer. Almost everybody was a writer. Not everybody thought they could be a dentist or an automobile mechanic but everybody knew they could be a writer. Of those fifty guys in the room, probably fifteen of them thought they were writers. Almost everybody used words and could write them down, i. e., almost everybody could be a writer. But most men, fortunately, aren't writers, or even cab drivers, and some men - many men - unfortunately aren't anything.
“It was better for me when I could imagine greatness in others, even if it wasn't always there.”
Source: The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship
Variant: The best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them.
“animals never worry about Heaven or Hell. neither do I. maybe that's why we get along”
Source: The Last Night of the Earth Poems
“one more creature
dizzy with love”
Charles Bukowski book Love Is a Dog from Hell
Source: Love Is a Dog from Hell
“and love was lightning and remembrance”
Source: The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems, 1946-1966
Source: The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems, 1946-1966
Source: You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Charles Bukowski book Post Office
Post Office (1971)
"jam"
The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992)
Charles Bukowski book Tales of Ordinary Madness
Tales of ordinary madness (1967-83)
Variant: .. the free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them...
Source: Tales of Ordinary Madness
Bluebird
The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992)
Context: there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see you.
... I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
... he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
... and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?
Charles Bukowski book Women
Variant: You begin saving the world by saving one person at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics.
Source: Women
Charles Bukowski book The People Look Like Flowers at Last
Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last
“I often carry things to read
so that I will not have to look at
the people.”
Source: The Last Night of the Earth Poems
Source: What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
“… in that drunken place
you would
like to hand your heart to her
and say
touch it
but then
give it back.”
Charles Bukowski book The People Look Like Flowers at Last
Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last
“dogs and angels are not
very far apart”
Charles Bukowski book The People Look Like Flowers at Last
Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last
“some moments are nice, some are
nicer, some are even worth
writing
about.”
Source: War All the Time
Charles Bukowski book Factotum
Source: Factotum (1975), Ch. 17
Context: I got into bed, opened the bottle, worked the pillow into a hard knot behind my back, took a deep breath, and sat in the dark looking out of the window. It was the first time I had been alone for five days. I was a man who thrived on solitude; without it I was like another man without food or water. Each day without solitude weakened me. I took no pride in my solitude; but I was dependent on it. The darkness of the room was like sunlight to me. I took a drink of wine.
