Henry Charles Bukowski (born Heinrich Karl Bukowski; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer.
It's 4:30 in the morning, it's always 4:30 in the morning.
be it peace or happiness let it enfold you
He asked, "what makes a man a writer?" "well," I said, "it's simple, it's either you get it down on paper or you jump off a bridge. writers are desperate people and when they stop being desperate they stop being writers. " "are you desperate?" "I don't know.
With me, my main vision for life was to avoid as many people as possible. The less people I saw the better I felt.
Real loneliness is not necessarily limited to when you are alone.
Long before I became 'rich and famous' I just sat round drinking wine and staring at the walls.
I am aware that a computer can’t create a poem, but neither can a typewriter.
It’s not so much that nothing means anything but more that it keeps meaning nothing. there’s no release, just gurus and self- appointed gods and hucksters. the more people say, the less there is to say. even the best books are dry sawdust.
Human relationships didn't work anyhow. Only the first two weeks had any zing, then the participants lost their interest. Masks dropped away and real people began to appear: cranks, imbeciles, the demented, the vengeful, sadists, killers. Modern society had created its own kind and they feasted on each other. It was a duel to the death--in a cesspool.
"she’ mad but she’ magic. there’ no lie in her fire.
Death is not the problem; waiting around for it is.
People were usually much better in their letters than in reality. They were much like poets in this way.
the tired sunsets and the tired people - it takes a lifetime to die and no time at all.
Erections, Ejaculations,Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness.
I have a face like a washrag. I sing love songs and carry steel. I would rather die than cry. I can't stand hounds can't live without them. I hang my head against the white refrigerator and want to scream like the last weeping of life forever but I am bigger than the mountains.
Keep your money in your pocket. Or bet it on a good horse.
Hey, Hank, I notice all the women around your place lately. . . good looking stuff; you're doing all right. " "Sam," I say, "that's not true; I am one of God's most lonely men.
It’s never quite right, all the things we are taught, all the loves we chase, all the deaths we die, all the lives we live.
What were you going to do tonight?" "I was going to listen to the songs of Rachmaninoff. " "Who's that?" "A dead Russian.
Sometimes I feel as if we are all trapped in a movie. We know our lines, where to walk, how to act, only there is no camera. Yet, we can't break out of the movie. And it's a bad one.