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Charles Bukowski

Other
1
2
the gods seldom
give
but so quickly
take.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
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For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
she slammed the door and
was gone.

I looked at the closed door
and at the doorknob
and strangely
I didn't feel
alone.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If I never see you again
I will always carry you
inside
outside

on my fingertips
and at brain edges

and in centers
centers
of what I am of
what remains.
From Living on Luck
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I wish to weep
but sorrow is
stupid.
I wish to believe
but belief is a
graveyard.
From What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
well, death says, as he walks by, I'm going to get you anyhow no matter what you've been: writer, cab-driver, pimp, butcher, sky-diver, I'm going to get you
From The Last Night of the Earth Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it's much better to be killed by a lover.
-Falsely yours
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
People don't need love. What they need is success in one form or another. It can be love but it needn't be.
From Factotum
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
What is your advice to young writers?”
“Drink, fuck and smoke plenty of cigarettes.
From Hot Water Music
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Having a bunch of cats around is good. If you're feeling bad, just look at the cats, you'll feel better, because they know that everything is, just as it is.
From On Cats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The Laughing Heart

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it's much better to be killed by a lover.
-Falsely yours
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
there's no clarity.
there was never meant to be clarity.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I believe that to be the world's greatest living
writer
there must be something
terribly wrong with you.
I don't even want to be the world's greatest
dead writer.
just being dead would be fair
enough.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Her violence frightened me. She always claimed that I was the jealous one, and I was often jealous, but when I saw things working against me I simply became disgusted and withdrew. Lydia was different. She reacted. She was the Head Cheerleader at the Game of Violence.
From Women
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
the gods play no
favorites.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
To me, nudity is a joke. I don't think nude people are very attractive at all. I like my women fully clothed. I like to imagine what might be under there. It might not be the standard thing. Imagine, stripping a woman down, and she has a body like a little submarine. With periscope, propellers, torpedoes. That would be the one for me. I'd marry her right off and be faithful to the end.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
some men never
die
and some men never
live

but we're all alive
tonight.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I can see where
creation often
stops while the
body still lives
and often
does not care
to.

the death of life
before life
dies.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
shot in the eye
shot in the brain
shot in the ass
shot like a flower in the dance

amazing how death wins hands down
amazing how much credence is given to idiot forms of
life

amazing how laughter has been drowned out
amazing how viciousness is such a constant

I must soon declare my own war on their war
I must hold to my last piece of ground
I must protect the small space I have made that has
allowed me life

my life not their death
my death not their death

this place, this time, now
I vow to the sun
that I will laugh the good laugh once again
in the perfect place of me
forever.

their death not my life.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I'm one of those who doesn't think there is much difference
between an atomic scientist and a man who cleans the crappers
except for the luck of the draw -
parents with enough money to point you toward a more
generous death.

of course, some come through brilliantly, but
there are thousands, millions of others, bottled up, kept
from even the most minute chance to realize their potential.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
the gods seldom
give
but so quickly
take.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
she slammed the door and
was gone.

I looked at the closed door
and at the doorknob
and strangely
I didn't feel
alone.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If I never see you again
I will always carry you
inside
outside

on my fingertips
and at brain edges

and in centers
centers
of what I am of
what remains.
From Living on Luck
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I wish to weep
but sorrow is
stupid.
I wish to believe
but belief is a
graveyard.
From What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
well, death says, as he walks by, I'm going to get you anyhow no matter what you've been: writer, cab-driver, pimp, butcher, sky-diver, I'm going to get you
From The Last Night of the Earth Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it's much better to be killed by a lover.
-Falsely yours
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
People don't need love. What they need is success in one form or another. It can be love but it needn't be.
From Factotum
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
What is your advice to young writers?”
“Drink, fuck and smoke plenty of cigarettes.
From Hot Water Music
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Having a bunch of cats around is good. If you're feeling bad, just look at the cats, you'll feel better, because they know that everything is, just as it is.
From On Cats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The Laughing Heart

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it's much better to be killed by a lover.
-Falsely yours
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
there's no clarity.
there was never meant to be clarity.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I believe that to be the world's greatest living
writer
there must be something
terribly wrong with you.
I don't even want to be the world's greatest
dead writer.
just being dead would be fair
enough.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Her violence frightened me. She always claimed that I was the jealous one, and I was often jealous, but when I saw things working against me I simply became disgusted and withdrew. Lydia was different. She reacted. She was the Head Cheerleader at the Game of Violence.
From Women
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
the gods play no
favorites.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
To me, nudity is a joke. I don't think nude people are very attractive at all. I like my women fully clothed. I like to imagine what might be under there. It might not be the standard thing. Imagine, stripping a woman down, and she has a body like a little submarine. With periscope, propellers, torpedoes. That would be the one for me. I'd marry her right off and be faithful to the end.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
some men never
die
and some men never
live

but we're all alive
tonight.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I can see where
creation often
stops while the
body still lives
and often
does not care
to.

the death of life
before life
dies.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
shot in the eye
shot in the brain
shot in the ass
shot like a flower in the dance

amazing how death wins hands down
amazing how much credence is given to idiot forms of
life

amazing how laughter has been drowned out
amazing how viciousness is such a constant

I must soon declare my own war on their war
I must hold to my last piece of ground
I must protect the small space I have made that has
allowed me life

my life not their death
my death not their death

this place, this time, now
I vow to the sun
that I will laugh the good laugh once again
in the perfect place of me
forever.

their death not my life.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I'm one of those who doesn't think there is much difference
between an atomic scientist and a man who cleans the crappers
except for the luck of the draw -
parents with enough money to point you toward a more
generous death.

of course, some come through brilliantly, but
there are thousands, millions of others, bottled up, kept
from even the most minute chance to realize their potential.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
the gods seldom
give
but so quickly
take.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
she slammed the door and
was gone.

I looked at the closed door
and at the doorknob
and strangely
I didn't feel
alone.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If I never see you again
I will always carry you
inside
outside

on my fingertips
and at brain edges

and in centers
centers
of what I am of
what remains.
From Living on Luck
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I wish to weep
but sorrow is
stupid.
I wish to believe
but belief is a
graveyard.
From What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
well, death says, as he walks by, I'm going to get you anyhow no matter what you've been: writer, cab-driver, pimp, butcher, sky-diver, I'm going to get you
From The Last Night of the Earth Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it's much better to be killed by a lover.
-Falsely yours
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
People don't need love. What they need is success in one form or another. It can be love but it needn't be.
From Factotum
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
What is your advice to young writers?”
“Drink, fuck and smoke plenty of cigarettes.
From Hot Water Music
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Having a bunch of cats around is good. If you're feeling bad, just look at the cats, you'll feel better, because they know that everything is, just as it is.
From On Cats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The Laughing Heart

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it's much better to be killed by a lover.
-Falsely yours
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
there's no clarity.
there was never meant to be clarity.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I believe that to be the world's greatest living
writer
there must be something
terribly wrong with you.
I don't even want to be the world's greatest
dead writer.
just being dead would be fair
enough.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Her violence frightened me. She always claimed that I was the jealous one, and I was often jealous, but when I saw things working against me I simply became disgusted and withdrew. Lydia was different. She reacted. She was the Head Cheerleader at the Game of Violence.
From Women
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
the gods play no
favorites.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
To me, nudity is a joke. I don't think nude people are very attractive at all. I like my women fully clothed. I like to imagine what might be under there. It might not be the standard thing. Imagine, stripping a woman down, and she has a body like a little submarine. With periscope, propellers, torpedoes. That would be the one for me. I'd marry her right off and be faithful to the end.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
some men never
die
and some men never
live

but we're all alive
tonight.
From You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I can see where
creation often
stops while the
body still lives
and often
does not care
to.

the death of life
before life
dies.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
shot in the eye
shot in the brain
shot in the ass
shot like a flower in the dance

amazing how death wins hands down
amazing how much credence is given to idiot forms of
life

amazing how laughter has been drowned out
amazing how viciousness is such a constant

I must soon declare my own war on their war
I must hold to my last piece of ground
I must protect the small space I have made that has
allowed me life

my life not their death
my death not their death

this place, this time, now
I vow to the sun
that I will laugh the good laugh once again
in the perfect place of me
forever.

their death not my life.
From Betting on the Muse: Poems & Stories
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
I'm one of those who doesn't think there is much difference
between an atomic scientist and a man who cleans the crappers
except for the luck of the draw -
parents with enough money to point you toward a more
generous death.

of course, some come through brilliantly, but
there are thousands, millions of others, bottled up, kept
from even the most minute chance to realize their potential.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
1
2