QuoteProject
Even though I write about the human race, the further away from them, the better I feel. Two miles is great; two thousand miles is beautiful.
Charles Bukowski
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote expresses a sense of detachment from humanity that allows for greater personal comfort and artistic clarity.

Charles Bukowski's quote reflects a paradoxical relationship with society, where distance from the human race enhances his creative feelings and emotional well-being. It suggests that a certain level of detachment can foster clarity and beauty in one's artistic expression, implying that proximity to humanity can be burdensome while distance offers a refreshing perspective.

Themes

DetachmentHumanityDistanceCreativityArtistry

In practice

Example use cases

In a lecture on the emotional impact of detachment in art, this quote might highlight a crucial point.

More from Charles Bukowski

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
when 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, can’t 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 don’t 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

Similar quotes

And yet we knew, for a certainty, that when first emissaries of Earth went walking among the planets, Earth's other sons would be dreaming not about such expeditions but about a piece of bread.
Stanislaw LemRead
A sudden silence in the middle of a conversation suddenly brings us back to essentials: it reveals how dearly we must pay for the invention of speech.
Emile M. CioranRead
When your inner mantra becomes 'How may I serve?' rather than 'What am I going to get?' and 'Who do I need to defeat?,' you start to see the unfolding of God in everything and everyone around you and you shift into higher consciousness.
Wayne DyerRead
What is at stake is human dignity. If a man is not accorded respect he cannot respect himself and if he does not respect himself, he cannot demand it.
Cesar ChavezRead
Live for this life as though you live in it forever and live for the life to come as though you die tomorrow.
'Amr Ibn Al-'AsRead
America is the world's engine but also its conscience. We are the petri dish of diversity and inclusiveness.
Martin DempseyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Charles Bukowski | QuoteProject