Charles Bukowski Quotes

Let me die fighting. Two years of physical suffering have taken from me twenty years of life. But the soul changes not, does it? It is there, the same madcap - Atman - mad upon one idea, intent and intense.

Lady Bird was very, very shy and yet she would go out and speak publicly on behalf of her husband and on issues that mattered to her. Someone asked her once how she did it, and she said you have to "get so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid." And I have found that that absolutely captures those moments when I fought for something I cared about. I get so caught up in fighting for things that are important to me that it pushes me through fear and doubt.

Knowing that the battle will not end the way he wishes does not make it any less worthwhile the fight.

I'm not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the road blocks that stand in our path. I'm not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight. I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

What is important is to believe in something so strongly that you're never discouraged.

Your strength lies in this, that you are not absolute but resolute.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these faithful couriers from the swift accomplishment of their appointed rounds.

I know I can fight; that's the only thing that matters to me.

Soldiers, I intend to stay here, not only as long as a man remains, but as long as a piece of a man is left.

The only way to get through the life I had was just to have a big head of steam and determination.

I'm all of those things that I was brought up to really value: honesty, stick with it, don't quit, don't cut and run, stay in there. When you think things might fall apart, believe that you have enough for victory. That's the stuff I have in me.

I will not retreat; I will find the strength to reach my goal.

It doesn't matter how tall you are if you have heart and you're a competitor.

Everyone wants to be a world champion, but when you take that first punch it will tell you if you really want to be in this sport or not. For me, there was no doubt.

I fought with integrity and heart and determination like no fighter has ever done.

I want you to think about your grandfather's integrity and grit when you're staring at the ceiling of your barracks room, but I also want you to think a little deeper.

it is only courage on the path itself that makes the path appear

We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophy—material or spiritual.

...what good would it do to shutter your windows, never dream of rainbows or find hope in promises? Why choose to walk away rather than hold your ground and fight for love?

Dream big . . . don't let anybody or anything break your wishbone. Stay strong, full of faith, and courageous... keep that backbone straight. And along the way, don't forget to laugh and enjoy the journey.

The manly part is to do with might and main what you can do.

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

I will not close my eyes, neither those in my head nor those in my soul, as the ship carries me away, along with my future, my dreams, and my beliefs. Buru Island is no happy land somewhere; it's but a way station on my journey in life—though to believe even that much will require no small measure of hope.

What is courage? This courage will not be the opposite of despair. We shall often be faced with despair, as indeed every sensitive person has been during the last several decades in this country. Hence Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and Camus and Sartre have proclaimed that courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather, the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.