5 witty phrases by Charles Bukoswski

In Charles Bukowski’s phrases one can guess a poet who was hurt by the lack of meaning, authentic values and frankness in contemporary society. His lyrics were an act of rejection and denunciation.

Charlos Bukowski’s phrases have always generated controversy. This German writer and poet, nationalized in the United States, was always a critical and caustic voice. His thing was to denounce the contradictions of modern society, its hypocrisy and its lack of meaning.

Bukowski is considered one of the greatest representatives of dirty realism. This current aims to reflect the most decadent aspects of society through its works. It arises as a response to the disenchantment and lack of meaning that emerges in the culture after the horrors of the Second World War.

Charles Bukowski’s phrases combine denunciation with lyricism. Speak without euphemisms about selfishness human nature, social cruelty and political hypocrisy. He does not believe in ideals or utopias. On the contrary, he openly declares his pessimism and lack of faith in the future. Still, his work is moving. These are some of the statements that made him famous.

“Sometimes I look at my hands and realize I could have been a great pianist or something. But what have my hands done? Scratching my balls, signing checks, tying shoes, flushing toilets, etc. I have wasted my hands. and my mind”.

-Charles Bukowski-

1. The intellectual and the artist

“An intellectual is one who says a simple thing in a complicated way. An artist is someone who says a complicated thing in a simple way.”.

It is very common to find a hint of humor in the phrases of Charles Bukoswski. In this one, for example, he makes a play on words that results in a message full of grace and, at the same time, the sarcasm that characterizes him so much.

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It is obvious that by contrasting the intellectual with the artist What it also manages in some way is to confront reason and sensitivity. It grants greater wisdom and capacity to the latter. It is a contrast between two languages, one of which does intend to communicate.

2. One of Charles Bukowski’s phrases about society

“We have formed our society with our lack of spirit; It’s like we deserve it”.

This is another of those phrases by Charles Bukowski that is a true reflection of his thoughts. Deeply critical of society American, Bukowski never ceased to point out its gaps and failures. Nor his great contradictions.

In this phrase he denounces the paradox that said society was not formed by the action of its members, but by the lack of action of these. It is included within those doers by default. At the same time, he points out that this society corresponds to the void that made it possible.

3. Smart people

“The problem with the world is that smart people are full of doubts while stupid people are the ones who have confidence in themselves.”.

This is one of Charles Bukowski’s phrases that became very popular. In it he emphasizes the fact that authentic intelligence prevents certainties. Whoever sees beyond what is apparent also incubates doubts about what is real, its scope and its implications.

Instead, those who do not think, or do not see, or do not want to see, easily adhere to small absolute truths. They are certainties, against which they are not questioned, nor are they tested. That’s what makes them “stupid” and full of confidence at the same time.

4. Dying to live

“You have to die a few times before you can really live”.

In this phrase, the poetic and sensitive vein of the great poet Bukowski stands out. It is one of the few phrases in which you can see a glimmer of hope in him.. Although he begins with one of his lapidary sentences, he also adds an optimistic conclusion.

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In this phrase he tells us about life as something that defies linearity. You are born and die several times. To know how to truly live it is necessary to have completed the cycle several times. End everything that makes up our world, to be born into the new. Afterwards, and thanks to this, you learn to live.

5. What really matters

“What matters is how well you walk through the fire”.

This is another of those Charles Bukowski phrases in which he lets his didactic side emerge and that hidden tenderness that only occasionally comes to light. Fire, in this case, refers to what damages, destroys or threatens the full integrity.

So the walking through fire has to do with that ability to move forward in the midst of those destructive forces that stalk human beings. That, in his opinion, is the most important thing. Cross those trails of flames, without getting burned.

Charles Bukowski He left us a controversial and daring work that is undoubtedly representative of a society in which it has become difficult to believe.. His phrases, his novels and his poems are the result of a genuine vocation. A stark yet loving cry for a different world.