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
Show me a man who lives alone and has a perpetually clean kitchen, and 8 times out of 9 I'll show you a man with detestable spiritual qualities.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that a person who is overly focused on cleanliness may be hiding their undesirable qualities.
Charles Bukowski's quote implies that those who obsessively maintain a clean and orderly environment may be compensating for deeper flaws in their character. This idea touches upon the notion that external appearances can often mask internal struggles and moral shortcomings, indicating that a pristine living space might often reflect a sterile or unfulfilling inner life.
Themes
CleanlinessSpiritualityCharacterAppearancesPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on personal habits, you can use this quote to highlight the connection between external order and internal turmoil.
More from Charles Bukowski
All quotes βwhen I am feeling low all i have to do is watch my cats and my courage returns
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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.
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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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