What do you think?
Rate this book
Charles Bukowski: A Little Book of Essential Quotes on Life, Art, and Love
Essential CHARLES BUKOWSKI Quotes Now at Your Fingertips! "If something burns your soul with purpose and desire, it’s your duty to be reduced to ashes by it. Any other form of existence will be yet another dull book in the library of life." ~ c.b.
"It's not the large things that send a man to the madhouse... no, it's the continuing series of small tragedies... not the death of his love but the shoelace that snaps with no time left."
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."
"Love is kind of like when you see a fog in the morning, when you wake up before the sun comes out. It's just a little while, and then it burns away... Love is a fog that burns with the first daylight of reality."
"It's not the large things that send a man to the madhouse... no, it's the continuing series of small tragedies... not the death of his love but the shoelace that snaps with no time left."
"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."
"Love is kind of like when you see a fog in the morning, when you wake up before the sun comes out. It's just a little while, and then it burns away... Love is a fog that burns with the first daylight of reality."
- GenresPoetry
25 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 14, 2019
44 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Read
August 3, 2021This collection is a little gem filled with a fair few thoughts and passionate insights from Bukowski.
The physical nature of the publication is interesting. No page numbers and lovely, though repeated illuminations of flowers and hummingbirds fill the bottom and top margins. And unpleasantly for the eyes, sans serif type is used -- serif is easier on the eyes when it is a hard copy of the book (the opposite is true for digital print).
Still, it's a collection I'm glad I have to return to.
Here are a few favorites.
Those faces you see every day on the streets were not created without hope: be kind to them: like you they have not escaped.
Understand me. I'm not like an ordinary world. I have my madness, I live in another dimension and I do not have time for things that have no soul.
If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.
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.
Nobody can save you but yourself and you're worth saving. It's a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning then this is it.
The physical nature of the publication is interesting. No page numbers and lovely, though repeated illuminations of flowers and hummingbirds fill the bottom and top margins. And unpleasantly for the eyes, sans serif type is used -- serif is easier on the eyes when it is a hard copy of the book (the opposite is true for digital print).
Still, it's a collection I'm glad I have to return to.
Here are a few favorites.
Those faces you see every day on the streets were not created without hope: be kind to them: like you they have not escaped.
Understand me. I'm not like an ordinary world. I have my madness, I live in another dimension and I do not have time for things that have no soul.
If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.
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.
Nobody can save you but yourself and you're worth saving. It's a war not easily won but if anything is worth winning then this is it.
May 6, 2020
Charles Bukowski: A Little Book of Essential Quotes on Life, Art, and Love published by Little Books of Wisdom is a book that contains 100 quotes by the famous poet, novelist, and short story writer. As the title suggests, the quotes included explore themes of life, art, and love, as well as much more. I absolutely loved this book of quotes. I have never read anything by Bukowski before, surprisingly, but after reading some of his views on life and the world, I am definitely looking forward to reading some of his actual work. To name a few, some of my favorite quotes were, “Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must live,” “Find what you love and let it kill you,” and, of course, the quote on the cover of the book, “Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be?” I would recommend this short book to anyone who likes to read quotes and other people’s perspectives on life and the world!
June 8, 2025
Charles Bukowski: A Little Book of Essential Quotes on Life, Art, and Love published by Little Books of Wisdom is a book that contains 100 quotes by the famous poet, novelist, and short story writer. As the title suggests, the quotes included explore themes of life, art, and love, as well as much more. I absolutely loved this book of quotes. I have never read anything by Bukowski before, surprisingly, but after reading some of his views on life and the world, I am definitely looking forward to reading some of his actual work. To name a few, some of my favorite quotes were, “Some people never go crazy, what truly horrible lives they must live,” “Find what you love and let it kill you,” and, of course, the quote on the cover of the book, “Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be?” I would recommend this short book to anyone who likes to read quotes and other people’s perspectives on life and the world!
January 2, 2021
I love Bukowski and really appreciate his writing and enjoy reading most all of his quotes. Unfortunately, this book has multiple editing errors (using the word “if,” as opposed to “of,”). Some of the quotes are in the book two times. I appreciate this book for compiling some quotes but am not at all impressed.
June 14, 2020
A small book, only in size and number of pages. The most important thing I got and felt after reading this book was that I'm going to read everything Bukowski has ever written.
October 24, 2020
Wow!!!
Why did it take a lifetime to find this man?
A new way to look at your existence.
Let they who have eyes see.
Why did it take a lifetime to find this man?
A new way to look at your existence.
Let they who have eyes see.
December 3, 2020
haven't done any pictures yet though
Read
September 3, 2021For all Bukowski fans
Little bits of Bukowski in every paragraph. I pick it when I need a quick dose in short time and it provides.
Little bits of Bukowski in every paragraph. I pick it when I need a quick dose in short time and it provides.
Read
January 2, 2025"Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you were supposed to be? If something burns your soul with purpose and desire, it's your duty to be reduced to ashes by it."
October 22, 2025
beautiful bukowski like always
I have never read anything of Buk that I have not loved. So honest and self reflective. Not many people can be that honest about their lives.
I have never read anything of Buk that I have not loved. So honest and self reflective. Not many people can be that honest about their lives.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews