Charles Bukowski Quotes

The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth.

The first test any poem must pass is no longer, 'Is it true to nature?' but a criterion looking in a different direction: namely, 'Is it sincere? Is it genuine?'

The poet never asks for admiration; he wants to be believed.

The first question at that time in poetry was simply the question of honesty, of sincerity.

The only thing you can really say in a poem is what you really, really deeply believe.

So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of his predicament that are interesting even to other persons because nobody is a perfect automobile salesman.

A poet's first contract is with truth.

I am quite certain in my heart of hearts that modern music and modern art is not a conspiracy, but is a form of truth and integrity for those who practise it honestly, decently and with all their being.

For a creative writer possession of the 'truth' is less important than emotional sincerity.

To be a poet is as serious, long-term and natural as the effort to be the best human you can be. To express something well is not a question of having a top-class education and understanding poetic forms: rather, it's a question of paying attention.

I should be writing a poem every morning but I'm not.

The poet nothing affirmeth and therefore never lieth.

In fact, in lyric poetry, truthfulness becomes recognizable as a ring of truth within the medium itself.

A good poem looks life straight in the face, unflinching, sincere, equal to revelation through loss or gain.

The hack songwriter will write the absolute truth every single word, whether it makes a great song or not.

What is the difference between the novelist and the liar? At some moments, I have often wondered.

Anyone who holds a pen these days thinks he or she is a poet.

If you can't find the exact quote you want, make it up.

If you want to be successful, you must respect one rule. Never lie to yourself.

I could never put anything into a picture that wasn't actually there in front of me. That would be a pointless lie, a mere bit of artfulness.

When a poem doesn't work, the first question to ask yourself is, 'Am I telling the truth?'

if you tell yourself the great lie of bad art-that you are in charge-your chance at the truth will be lost. The truth isn't always pretty.

There is but one poetry,--true poetry.

I feel like you can't really be truthful as an artist and empathize with the human experience, unless you know your truth and you're not living a lie. So I'm learning through it, and it's making me a better person, and it's making me a better artist, I think.

If I cannot be myself in what I write, then the whole is nothing but lies and humbug.