Timeless, clear, accurate, annoying to some… Charles Bukowski's quotes are a blunt critique of contemporary society, revealing his misanthropy toward the human race, as well as his disagreement with the tendency of individuals to follow the precepts imposed for a supposedly idyllic life in community.
If he were alive today, Charles Bukowski wouldn't survive the witch hunt perpetrated by certain ideological sectors against those who don't hold back when it comes to saying what they think.
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50 Charles Bukowski quotes for reflective minds
For the most closed-minded, some of the following Charles Bukowski quotes will seem scandalous.
In truth, in this era of political correctness and single-minded thinking, where opinions that deviate from the established dogma are not accepted, many of these statements wouldn't pass the censorship filter, and the writer would be subjected to public scorn, as happens with anyone who dares to question certain ideas imposed from above.
1. If you want to know who your friends are, get yourself thrown in jail
This is one of Charles Bukowski's quotes collected in Notes of a Dirty Old Man. Like him, some say that friends can barely be counted on one hand.
2. Civilization is a lost cause; politics, an absurd lie; work, a cruel joke
Quotes like this from Charles Bukowski show that the author of Factotum wasn't particularly optimistic. But seeing how things are, is there anyone who still holds hope?
3. "That's the problem with drinking," he thought, as he poured himself a drink: If something bad happens, you drink to try to forget; if something good happens, you drink to celebrate; and if nothing happens, you drink to make something happen
Bukowski's fondness for drinking was known to all; many of his most controversial statements revolve around alcohol.
4. An intellectual is someone who says a simple thing in a complicated way. An artist is someone who says a complicated thing in a simple way
Not everyone is born with the sensitivity necessary to speak the language of art, nor to know how to interpret it.
5. She was a more or less good soul, but the world is full of more or less good souls and look where we are…
With this declaration of intentions, Charles Bukowski emphasizes that despite the goodness of some people, the world is plunged into a debacle from which we will hardly emerge.
6. I think I need a drink - Almost everyone needs one, they just don't know it
For Bukowski, there was always a reason to hit the bottle.
7. People without morals often consider themselves freer, but most were incapable of feeling hate or love
Are feelings a cage that prevents us from achieving freedom, or the means to achieve such a goal?
8. Our society we have formed with our lack of spirit; it's as if we deserve it
One of our favorite Charles Bukowski quotes, but with a nuance: let's remove that it's "as if" we deserve it…
9. Man, despite his bravado, is the faithful one, the one who generally feels love. Woman is an expert in betrayal. And torture and perdition. Never envy a man's woman. Behind all this is hell on earth
Half of Twitter users, along with the thought police of social networks, would be calling for Charles Bukowski's head for this statement if he made it today.
10. My ambition is limited by my laziness
In his 1975 work Factotum, there's this great Charles Bukowski quote about the capacity of laziness to prevent what could be great achievements.
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11. When you drink, the world is still out there, but at that moment it doesn't have you by the throat
Drinking is the escape route for many people to momentarily flee their problems. The issue is that they always return, and they can get complicated if one abuses, although Bukowski seemed not to care.
12. I went to the movies very little because I was enough for myself to kill my time, I didn't need extra help
This Bukowski quote might come to mind just after leaving the screening of some movies, but great gems are still being made for the audience that truly knows how to appreciate them.
13. What the hell does a man get from thinking? Only problems
Okay. I'm going to stop thinking in 3,2,1...
14. If you're a failure, it's very likely you're an excellent writer
Many great creators didn't succeed until after they died. Apparently, it seems that wasn't the case for Bukowski.
15. Of course, it's possible to love a human being, if you don't know them too well
The Witnesses of Love don't believe in Charles Bukowski quotes like the one cited. They will say that love is the greatest and what moves the world and blah blah...
16. It's not my day. Nor my week, nor my month, nor my year. Nor my life. Damn it!
Continue game? 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...
17. There are worse things than being alone, but it often takes decades to realize it and most of the time when you do it's too late and there's nothing more terrible than it being too late
And how many people spend their lives trying to find someone to feel complete and forget to live their life? Let's wake up, no one is going to live it for us!
18. - Do you hate people? - I don't hate them, I just feel better when they're not around
Without a doubt, this writer is unique in his kind, he wasn't afraid to admit that he didn't like people. Without a doubt, a very good sign.
19. Why do I drink alcohol? - Because no good story starts with "I was eating a salad"
Are there no good stories without booze involved? I don't know, I'm sober while writing these lines...
20. The difference between a brave man and a coward is that a coward thinks twice before jumping into the cage with a lion. The brave man simply doesn't know what a lion is. He just thinks he knows
According to this clever Charles Bukowski quote, there's a fine line between bravery and recklessness.
21. There will always be money and whores and drunks, until the last bomb falls
Oh! He said "whores." Good luck with the lawsuit, Charles.
22. It's good to feel hostility, it keeps the head clear
With quotes like this, Charles Bukowski chose to distance himself from human contact to take refuge in his inner world.
23. People don't want to work, people want to live well, but without working
"I can't conceive life without work," "if I didn't work, I don't know what I'd do"... Really? Given the choice, are there those who would opt for a life dedicated to work? We remain skeptical when someone drops a phrase like this just to avoid admitting a controversial statement.
24. It seems to me that life is completely devoid of interest, and I felt this especially when I worked eight hours a day. Most men worked eight hours a day, and they don't love life either. There's no reason to love life for someone who works eight hours a day, because he's defeated
When we're not clear if we work to live or live to work, when workdays are extended or when we lose time to do anything other than work, while our life is consumed; we should keep in mind Charles Bukowski quotes like this.
25. What is love? Love is a fog that burns with the first light of the day of reality
Another slap of reality dedicated to the Witnesses of Love from our friend Charles Bukowski.
26. No pain means the end of feeling; each of our joys is a deal with the devil
Charles Bukowski's quotes are clear and direct. For him, human joys represent a pleasure that, in many cases, have to do with our deepest and least innocent secrets.
27. There are times when a man has to fight so much for life that he doesn't have time to live it
And sometimes, we realize when it's already too late.
28. Man is born to die
"Dust you are and to dust you shall return." Come on, for Bukowski it doesn't matter how we choose to live life, we all end up the same sooner or later.
29. Be good enough at anything and you'll create your own enemies
They say envy is the national sport: when someone is doing well, it doesn't take long for the hyenas to pounce on them and try to take advantage of someone else's work, or try to beat them down. One of Charles Bukowski's most accurate quotes.
30. The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you can vote before obeying orders
A perfect definition of what many democracies end up being.
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31. Knowledge, if not applied, is worse than ignorance
Knowledge is a gift that should be used to do something useful with it, otherwise, it's worse than the ignorant who lacks it, because at least he lives happily.
32. Real loneliness is not necessarily limited to when you're alone
Sometimes, being surrounded by other people is worse than not being accompanied.
33. Beware of those who seek crowds
Like the previous Charles Bukowski quotes about loneliness, this one emphasizes that precisely those people who always seek company and can't tolerate their moments alone, are precisely the ones who feel the emptiest inside.
34. They can see you dying in a ditch and they'll walk by and spit on you
And there will even be those who celebrate seeing you in such a situation.
35. You have to die a few times before you can really live
Do we die several times throughout life before reaching the grave?
36. A love like that was a serious illness. An illness you never fully recover from
What will the Witnesses of Romantic Love think of the pathological conception Bukowski had about love?
37. I only know that there are too many people who are afraid
Fear is the main element that paralyzes us and prevents us from acting.
38. Sometimes you get out of bed in the morning and you think you won't make it, but you laugh inside because you remember all the times you felt that way
Among the Charles Bukowski quotes that invite discouragement, we've slipped in this one that encourages us to face a new day even if we don't feel capable.
39. I felt like crying but the tears never came. It was that kind of sadness, sick sadness, the kind where you can't feel worse. I think everyone goes through it from time to time, but for me, it's very often, too often
Probably for that reason, Bukowski hit the bottle so much.
40. If you're going to try, go all the way. If not, don't even try. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, and even your mind. It could mean not eating for days… And it will be better than anything you've ever tried
Or as Yoda would say: "Do or do not, there is no try." Was Bukowski secretly a Jedi apprentice?
41. Being alone never felt right. Sometimes it felt good, but never right
In a society where its members are forced to pair up to avoid being labeled as weird and marginalized, opting for a solitary life seems like a symptom of pathology or mental defect. For us, it's quite the opposite.
42. It was true that I didn't have much ambition, but there should be a place for people without ambition
According to Charles Bukowski quotes like this, not everyone wants to achieve great feats. Some, (what madness!) even want to live.
43. Good human beings save the world so bastards like me can keep creating art, become immortal. If you're reading this after I'm dead, then I made it
We don't know if someone has secretly saved the world, what is clear is that, 24 years after his death, we're still talking about Charles Bukowski.
44. There's a place in the heart that never gets filled. A space that even in the best moments will never be filled, and we'll wait and wait in that space
Some of Charles Bukowski's quotes denote that he was someone who felt a great sorrow in his heart with which he had become accustomed to living.
45. I stopped looking for the girl of my dreams, I just wanted one that wasn't a nightmare
Perhaps the writer's mistake from the beginning was thinking he had to look for someone. Let's hope it didn't take him long to realize, although judging by this Charles Bukowski quote, it doesn't seem so.
46. I'm a genius but no one knows it but me
We know it, Charles. We know it...
47. Most people go from nothing to the grave without barely being touched by the horror of life
And yet their suffering seems to be agonizing.
48. I usually carry something to read so I don't have to look at people
We've saved the best Charles Bukowski quotes for last. We'll follow his advice and do the same to avoid forced and unwanted interactions.
49. The problem with the world is that intelligent people are full of doubts while stupid ones are the ones who have self-confidence
Truths like temples courtesy of Charles Bukowski.
50. Give something to the human race and they'll scrape it and scratch it and crush it
And we close the list with what is the best of Charles Bukowski's quotes: a shrewd and very accurate critique of how the human being is capable of destroying and prostituting everything that is beautiful, under the excuse of progress, the advancement of the species, or simply for their use and enjoyment.