"When I begin to doubt my ability to work the word, I simply read another writer and know I have nothing to worry about. My contest is only with myself...

People were usually much better in their letters than in reality. They were much like poets in this way.
~ Charles Bukowski ~












People were usually much better in their letters than in reality. They were much like poets in this ...
Show MoreMore Charles Bukowski quotes
"take a writer away from his typewriterand all you have leftisthe sicknesswhich started himtypingin thebeginning
"the impossibility of being humanall too humanthis breathingin and outout and inthese punksthese cowardsthese championsthese mad dogs of glorymoving th...
"He asked, "What makes a man a writer?" "Well," I said, "it's simple. You either get it down on paper, or jump off a bridge.
"The secret is writing down one simple line after another.
"Don’t ever write a novel unless it hurts like a hot turd coming out
"nothing can save you except writing. it keeps the walls from failing.
"There's no point in writing my kind of stuff, when they're printing that kind of stuff. So I gave up and started drinking.
"Basically, that's why I wrote: to save my ass, to save my ass from the madhouse, from the streets, from myself.
"The writer has no responsibility other than to jack off in bed alone and write a good page.
"unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don't do it
"Isolation is a gift. Everything else is just a test of your endurance. You will be alone with the Gods. Your nights will flame with fire.
"Writing is something that you don't know how to do. You sit down and it's something that happens, or it may not happen. So, how can you teach anybody ...
"Yes?’ he asked, looking at me over the sheet.‘I’m a writer temporarily down on my inspirations.’‘Oh, a writer, eh?’‘Yes.’‘Are you sure?’‘No, I’m not.’...
"What is your advice to young writers?""Drink, fuck and smoke plenty of cigarettes.""What is your advice to older writers?""If you're still alive, you ...