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Meaning
This reads as a bleak confession about the limits of feeling. It can be taken to mean that pain alone is not enough, because grief can harden into emptiness and belief can feel blocked off, almost lifeless. It lands in moments when someone wants comfort but finds only fatigue, when the desire to feel deeply is met by numbness instead.
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
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About Charles Bukowski
German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer
Charles Bukowski was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. He became closely associated with Los Angeles, the city he made his home, and his work reflects that setting and its pressures. His writing focuses on the lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the grind of work. He wrote with direct attention to everyday hardship and the conditions that shaped it.
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Pessimism: more sayings
- “We evolved haphazardly within a random universe; no purpose underpins us, no God watches over us, and no assu…”Colin Feltham
- “Optimism isn't funny unless you are laughing at the person, whereas extreme pessimism is extremely funny. It'…”Steve Toltz
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Explore Perseverance
- “Christians walk as strangers in the world: They are untamed. They are free. To persevere with love, yet untam…”Criss Jami
- “Wise is the one who flavors the future with some salt from the past. Becoming dust is no threat to the phoeni…”Curtis Tyrone Jones
- “P's of life; Passionate life, Persistent life.”Lailah Gifty Akita
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Books by Charles Bukowski
Pulp
2007
Women
2009
Ham on Rye
2001
Bone palace ballet
2002
Factotum
2009