Charles Bukowski Quotes

Not that she objected to solitude. Quite the contrary. She had books, thank Heaven, quantities of books. All sorts of books.

A great reader seldom recognizes his solitude.

He would go somewhere no one knew him, and he would sit in a library all day and read books and listen to people breathing.

I wished I could be alone in my room, with my books, away from these people.

I lay on the bed and lost myself in stories. I liked that. Books were safer than other people anyways.

If I could always read, I should never feel the want of company.

I was lonely as a kid. Since I had no siblings, I spent a lot of time by myself and a lot of time reading.

From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood.

I suppose what one wants really is ideal company and books are ideal company.

Books were safer than other people anyway.

A book, unlike any other friend, will wait, not only upon the hour but upon the mood.

Thank God for books as an alternative to conversation.

I'd go somewhere where no one spoke. I would take a stack of books up to my hips, and I'd read nonstop. And I'd be reading naked.

I prefer to be left alone with my books.

Reading - the best state yet to keep absolute loneliness at bay.

I need, absolutely, to be alone.

As an only child lacking siblings and playmates, I was alone a great deal of the time. Much of this was spent reading virtually anything I could get my hands on.

When I was growing up, the place I felt least alone was when I was reading.

I love to read, and I like the fact that there's some silence in my life.

Books support us in our solitude and keep us from being a burden to ourselves.

A book isn't noise to drown out other noise.

I just hope that readers and publishers continue to appreciate good writing and good storytelling in all their various forms. And I hope that people continue to read books, even though we have so many other options for entertainment.

Books are a refuge, a sort of cloistral refuge, from the vulgarities of the actual world.

Your solitude will expand and become a place where you can live in the twilight, where the noise of other people passes, far in the distance.