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“the best often die by their own hand
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them”
―
just to get away,
and those left behind
can never quite understand
why anybody
would ever want to
get away
from
them”
―
“The reason this system can’t be overthrown in this country,” Walter said, “is all about freedom. The reason the free market in Europe is tempered by socialism is that they’re not so hung up on personal liberties there. They also have lower population growth rates, despite comparable income levels. The Europans are all-around more rational, basically. And the conversation about rights in this country isn’t rational. It’s taking place on the level of emotion, and class resentments, which is why the right is so good at exploiting it.”
― Freedom
― Freedom
“He watched a catbird hopping around in an azalea that was readying itself to bloom; he envied the bird for knowing nothing of what he knew; he would have swapped souls with it in a heartbeat. And then to take wing, to know the air's buoyancy even for an hour: the trad was a no-brainer, and the catbird, with its lively indifference to him, its sureness of physical selfhood, seemed well aware of how preferable it was to be the bird.”
― Freedom
― Freedom
“Love is a form of prejudice. You love what you need, you love what makes you feel good, you love what is convenient. How can you say you love one person when there are ten thousand people in the world that you would love more if you ever met them? But you'll never meet them.”
― Hot Water Music: Charles Bukowski's Classic Dirty Realism – Raw Beat Generation Stories of Working-Class Life
― Hot Water Music: Charles Bukowski's Classic Dirty Realism – Raw Beat Generation Stories of Working-Class Life
“Let's be honest. The activities of our economic and social system are killing the planet. Even if we confine ourselves merely to humans, these activities are causing an unprecedented privation, as hundreds of millions of people-and today more than yesterday, with probably more tomorrow-go their entire lives with never enough to eat. Yet curiously, none of this seems to stir us to significant action. And when someone does too stridently point out these obvious injustices, the response by the mass of the people seems so often to be . . . a figurative if not physical blow to the gut, leading inevitably to a destruction of our common future. Witness the enthusiasm with which those native nations that resisted their conquest by our culture have been subdued, and the eagerness with which this same end is today brought to those-native or not-who continue to resist too strongly. How does this come to happen, in both personal and social ways?”
― The Culture of Make Believe
― The Culture of Make Believe
Bukowski
— 645 members
— last activity Jul 07, 2025 08:19AM
This is a group for fans of the dirty old man. The words he wrote kept him from total madness.
South Shore Readers
— 573 members
— last activity Jun 28, 2026 04:50PM
A group for book lovers from the South Shore area of Massachusetts. We can discuss area bookstores, libraries, favorite books, book-related events, bo ...more
Western Mass Goodreads
— 106 members
— last activity Oct 19, 2020 09:15AM
A group for residents of Western Massachusetts.
Meaghan’s 2025 Year in Books
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