Charles Bukowski Quotes

It's not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.

A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.

Here's the deal: I believe - and I attempt to live my life this way - we all have more time than we think we do. We all waste so much time.

Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things to help rid us of our time, which will never return.

As to each of us, the knowledge that we are here but briefly and a nonnegotiable limit is set to our expected time may even be necessary as the incentive to number our days and make them count.

Now I feel life is really short and I have to take care of things.

As he that lives longest lives but a little while, every man may be certain that he has no time to waste. The duties of life are commensurate to its duration; and every day brings its task, which, if neglected, is doubled on the morrow.

We're all worm bait waiting to happen. It's what you do while you wait that matters.

If you have anything better to be doing when death overtakes you, get to work on that.

Postponing doing the really interesting things in life for later, when you don't have the energy.

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.

Our life is made up of time; our days are measured in hours, our pay measured by those hours, our knowledge is measured by years. We grab a few quick minutes in our busy day to have a coffee break. We rush back to our desks, we watch the clock, we live by appointments. And yet your time eventually runs out and you wonder in your heart of hearts if those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years and decades were being spent the best way they possibly could. In other words, if you could change anything, would you?

We all have a timeline. Most of us don't live like we have a timeline.

Ignatius, when he heard the clock strike, would say, "Now I have another hour to answer for." (Eph. 5:16)

You’d better get busy, though, buddy. The goddam sands run out on you every time You turn around. I know what I’m talking about. You’re lucky if you get time to sneeze In this goddam phenomenal world.

What will you do with the time you have left?

For every hour of brains, you will be charged three hours. The other two hours go to management and project management, which is to say they are wasted.

Memorize the selfstarter DO IT NOW! DO IT NOW! can affect every phase of your life. It can help you do the things you should do but don't feel like doing. It can keep you from procrastinating when an unpleasant duty faces you. But it can also help you do those things that you want to do. It helps you seize those precious moments that, if lost, may never be retrieved.

You'd be amazed how much research you can get done when you have no life whatsoever.

Productiveness is your acceptance of morality, your recognition of the fact that you choose to live.

I love Twitter. It doesn't keep me from writing and I think it's a really convenient scapegoat when the truth is that the real issue is self-control. I am totally fine admitting i have none. I'm not going to blame Twitter for affecting my writing. And also, Twitter doesn't affect my writing.

Every hour of lost time is a chance of future misfortune.

Life is short. You die before you think you're going to. Don't waste it in college unless you're doing something real. My view.

We're all living on borrowed time. The trick is to come up with works of sufficient interest to pay off the debt.

The truth is that you can spend your life any way you want, but you can spend it only once.