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The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is Often Unbearable.
-Charles Bukowski
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The Shortest Distance Between

Charles Bukowski
...
The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is Often Unbearable.

Understanding the Quote: "the shortest distance between two points is often unbearable...."

This quote by Charles Bukowski reflects deeply on the theme of distance. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Distance, Two, Unbearable, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Charles Bukowski interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski is celebrated for insightful thoughts on distance and two. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Distance
Two
Unbearable
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Computer
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Once In A Dream I Saw A Snake Swallowing Its Own Tail, It Swallowed And Swallowed Until It Got Halfway Round, And There It Stopped And There It Stayed, It Was Stuffed With Its Own Self. Some Fix, That. We Only Have Ourselves To Go On, And It's Enough.
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Self
Snakes
She’s Mad, But She’s Magic.
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Magic
The Night Kept Coming On In And There Was Nothing I Could Do.
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Dull
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Effort
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Bridges
Good Man
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Mouths
I Write Right Off The Typer. I Call It My "machinegun." I Hit It Hard, Usually Late At Night While Drinking Wine And Listening To Classical Music On The Radio And Smoking Mangalore Ganesh Beedies.
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Writing
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It Will Rain All This Night And We Will Sleep Transfixed By The Dark Water As Our Blood Runs Through Our Fragile Life.
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Almost Everybody Is Born A Genius And Buried An Idiot.
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Thought Provoking
Genius
This Is A World Where Everybody’s Gotta Do Something. Ya Know, Somebody Laid Down This Rule That Everybody’s Gotta Do Something, They Gotta Be Something. You Know, A Dentist, A Glider Pilot, A Narc, A Janitor, A Preacher, All That . . . Sometimes I Just Get Tired Of Thinking Of All The Things That I Don’t Wanna Do. All The Things That I Don’t Wanna Be. Places I Don’t Wanna Go, Like India, Like Getting My Teeth Cleaned. Save The Whale, All That, I Don’t Understand That . . .
Tired
Thinking
Whales
Sexual Intercourse Is Kicking Death In The Ass While Singing.
Funny
Sex
Humor
I Often Stood In Front Of The Mirror Alone, Wondering How Ugly A Person Could Get.
Mirrors
Ugly
Wonder
The History Of Melancholia Includes All Of Us.
There's No Clarity. There Was Never Meant To Be Clarity.
Clarity
Meant To Be
I Used To Lay Drunk In Alleys And I Probably Will Again.bukowski, Who Is He? I Read About Bukowski And It Doesn't Seem Like Anything To Do With Me.
Drunk
Used
Alleys
Her One Drink Had Cecelia Giggling And Talking And She Was Explaining That Animals Had Souls Too. Nobody Challenged Her Opinion. It Was Possible, We Knew. What We Weren't Sure Of Was If We Had Any.
Animal
Talking
Soul
It Began As A Mistake.
Mistake
Banion Wondered Which Was Worse - Being Sodomized By Aliens, Or Having To Sit Through Two Hours Of Charles Ives.
Two
Aliens
Hours
Maybe When I Get In The Grave, Things Will Be Beautiful.
Beautiful
Graves
‎"she’ Mad But She’ Magic. There’ No Lie In Her Fire.
Lying
Fire
Mad
In This Room The Hours Of Love Still Make Shadows.
Shadow
Rooms
Hours
Our Disappointment Sits Between Us.
Disappointment
The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is Often Unbearable.
Distance
Two
Unbearable
I Went Home Each Night Dizzy And Sick. He Was Murdering Me With The Sound Of His Voice.
Home
Night
Voice
I Like To Change Liquor Stores Frequently Because The Clerks Got To Know Your Habits If You Went In Night And Day And Bought Huge Quantities. I Could Feel Them Wondering Why I Wasn't Dead Yet And It Made Me Uncomfortable. They Probably Weren't Thinking Any Such Thing, But Then A Man Gets Paranoid When He Has 300 Hangovers A Year.
Drinking
Hangover
Night
I Am Not A Man Who Looks For Solutions In God Or Politics. If Somebody Else Wants To Do The Dirty Work And Create A Better World For Us And He Can Do It, I Will Accept It.
Dirty
Men
Looks
There's No Way I Can Stop Writing, It's A Form Of Insanity.
Writing
Insanity
Way
I Have Seen Too Many Men Wilt And Go Silly Under A Little Light, And Then They Continue To Write And Get Published, Turning Out Pure Crap Under A Name That Has Become A Bad Habit. The Next Poem Is All That Counts. You Can't Stand On Past Poems.
Silly
Writing
Men
I Was An Agnostic. Agnostics Didn't Have Much To Argue About.
Arguing
Agnostic
And Love Is A Word Used Too Much And Much Too Soon.
Love
Too Much
Used
I Think I Need A Drink.' 'almost Everybody Does Only They Don't Know It.
Drinking
Thinking
Alcohol
There Is No Hurry. Time Means Nothing To You.
Mean
I Was Naturally A Loner, Content Just To Live With A Woman, Eat With Her, Sleep With Her, Walk Down The Street With Her. I Didn't Want Conversation, Or To Go Anywhere Except The Racetrack Or The Boxing Matches. I Didn't Understand T.v. I Felt Foolish Paying Money To Go Into A Movie Theatre And Sit With Other People To Share Their Emotions. Parties Sickened Me. I Hated The Game-playing, The Dirty Play, The Flirting, The Amateur Drunks, The Bores.
Party
Dirty
Sleep
... To Die On A Kitchen Floor At 7 O'clock In The Morning While Other People Are Frying Eggs Is Not So Rough Unless It Happens To You.
Death
Morning
Eggs
Understand Me. I’m Not Like An Ordinary World. I Have My Madness, I Live In Another Dimension And I Do Not Have Time For Things That Have No Soul.
Ordinary World
Soul
Dimensions
If Something Burns Your Soul With Purpose And Desire, It’s Your Duty To Be Reduced To Ashes By It. Any Other Form Of Existence Will Be Yet Another Dull Book In The Library Of Life.
Book
Soul
Desire
That’s When I First Learned That It Wasn’t Enough To Just Do Your Job, You Had To Have An Interest In It, Even A Passion For It.
Jobs
Passion
Firsts
I Wasn’t Going Anywhere And Neither Was The Rest Of The World. We Were All Just Hanging Around Waiting To Die And Meanwhile Doing Little Things To Fill The Space. Some Of Use Weren’t Even Doing Little Things. We Were Vegetables.
Vegetables
Space
Waiting
It's Just That The Grape Has Me Down.
Grapes
And I Said To Myself That He Was The First Thing That I Had Ever Missed In My Life.
Firsts
Said
Never Trust A Man In A Jumpsuit
Men
Never Trust
Never Trust A Man
They, All Of Them, Seemed To Put Literary Form In Front Of The Actuality And Living Of Life Itself.
Form
Actuality
Fronts
I'm Only Interested In Poetry.
Slavery Was Never Abolished, It Was Only Extended To Include All The Colors.
Color
Slavery
If You Let Them Kill You, They Will
Ifs
I Write As A Function. Without It I Would Fall Ill And Die. It's As Much A Part Of One As The Liver Or Intestine, And Just About As Glamorous.
Fall
Writing
Function
You Can Steal My Women But Don't Play With My Whiskey.
Play
Whiskey
Stealing
I Guess We Often Get The Deep Blues, Both Of Us, And Wonder What It All Means- The People, The Buildings, The Day By Day Things, The Waste Of Time, Of Ourselves.
Mean
People
Waste
The Problem With The World Is That The Intelligent People Are Full Of Doubts, While The Stupid Ones Are Full Of Confidence.
Faith
Confidence
Stupid
Once A Woman Turns Against You, Forget It. They Can Love You, Then Something Turns In Them. They Can Watch You Dying In A Gutter, Run Over By A Car, And They'll Spit On You.
Running
Love You
Car
The Years Have Gone By Quickly. Death Sits In The Seat Next To Me. We Make A Lovely Couple.
Couple
Years
Lovely
Anybody Can Be A Non-drunk. It Takes A Special Talent To Be A Drunk. It Takes Endurance. Endurance Is More Important Than Truth.
Beer
Drunk
Important
We're All Going To Die, All Of Us, What A Circus! That Alone Should Make Us Love Each Other But It Doesn't. We Are Terrorized And Flattened By Trivialities, We Are Eaten Up By Nothing.
Love
Death
Novelists
Long Before I Became 'rich And Famous' I Just Sat Round Drinking Wine And Staring At The Walls.
Wall
Drinking
Wine
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