I can never drive my car over a bridge without thinking of suicide. I can never look at a lake or an ocean without thinking of suicide.
Charles BukowskiRead
If I hadn't been a drunkard, I probably would have committed suicide long ago.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the struggle with addiction and the acknowledgment of its role in preserving life.
In this poignant quote, Charles Bukowski reveals the duality of his experience with alcoholism. He suggests that his excessive drinking, often seen as a detriment, may have actually served as a coping mechanism that prevented him from facing the darker thoughts and impulses that could have led him to take his own life. This highlights the complexities of human behavior and the intricate relationship between self-destruction and survival.
Themes
AlcoholismSuicideStruggleLifeSurvival
In practice
Example use cases
During a mental health awareness campaign, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of seeking help.
More from Charles Bukowski
All quotes βwhen I am feeling low all i have to do is watch my cats and my courage returns
Charles BukowskiRead
The masses are always wrong...Wisdom is doing everything the crowd does not do. All you do is reverse the totality of their learning and you have the heaven they're looking for.
Charles BukowskiRead
I'm going to open another vottle. not a vottle, but a bottle. you open it and I'll drink it. and you try to write as much as I did without falling off of your chair.
Charles BukowskiRead
To experience real agony is something hard to write about, impossible to understand while it grips you; you're frightened out of your wits, canβt sit still, move, or even go decently insane.
Charles BukowskiRead
I lapsed into my pathetic cut-off period. Often with humans, both good and bad, my senses simply shut off, they get tired, I give up. I am polite. I nod. I pretend to understand because I donβt want anybody to be hurt. That is the one weakness that has lead me into the most trouble. Trying to be kind to others I often get my soul shredded into a kind of spiritual pasta. No matter. My brain shuts off. I listen. I respond. And they are too dumb to know that I am not there.
Charles BukowskiRead
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