"I would be married, but I'd have no wife, I would be married to a single life.

The factories, the jails, the drunken days and nights, the hospitals have weakened and shaken me like a mouse in the mouth of a hip-cat: life.- from an Aug. 1965 letter to Jim Roman "On Cats
~ Charles Bukowski ~












The factories, the jails, the drunken days and nights, the hospitals have weakened and shaken me lik...
Show MoreMore Charles Bukowski quotes
"Style is the answer to everything.A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thingTo do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous th...
"when Whitman wrote, “I sing the body electric”I know what hemeantI know what hewanted:to be completely alive every momentin spite of the inevitable.we...
"I sat back down and poured a glass of wine. I left my door open. The moonlight came in with the sounds of the city: juke boxes, automobiles, curses, d...
"there are so many dayswhen living stops and pulls up and sitsand waits like a train on the rails.
"I'm not a guru. I wish you wouldn't pose these things at me, man. Ask me about women or something.
"if you are going to try, go all the way.. Otherwise, don’t even start.. If you are going to try, go all the way.. This could mean losing girlfriends, ...
"Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must live.
"I felt like a still live fish on ice in a butcher’s counter on Friday morning.- On Cats
"The cat is the beutiful devil. And here we can use the word, even without the “a.”- from a Dec. 21 1960, a letter to Sheri Martinelli"On Cats
"Having a bunch of cats around is good. If you're feeling bad, you just look at the cats, you'll feel better because they know that everything is just ...
"You understand, we just don't fuck with truth.
"People are strange: They are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.
"when I am feelinglowall i have to do iswatch my catsand mycouragereturns
"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...