Quotes: Charles Bukowski

no leaders, please

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
don't swim in the same slough.
invent yourself and then reinvent yourself
and 
stay out of the clutches of mediocrity.

invent yourself and then reinvent yourself,
change your tone and shape so often that they can
never 
categorize you.

reinvigorate yourself and
accept what is
but only on the terms that you have invented
and reinvented.

be self-taught.

and reinvent your life because you must;
it is your life and 
its history
and the present
belong only to
you.

–– Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), German-born, American author
* While in the poetry section of an out-of-town bookstore I stumbled across the work of Charles Bukowski because of a sign. It said: "For Charles Bukowski books, please ask an employee." I'm curious, so I did. The bookstore clerk was knowledgeable and helpful. He told me that all the Charles Bukowski books are stored out-of-reach because they are of the most-stolen books in the store and that they resell for prices higher than the listed price on the books. Haruki Murakami's books fit into that category too. The clerk grabbed a tall ladder and kindly selected a book for me to explore from the secret stash.  He told me that Bukowski's writing was accessible and that blue-collar workers would read his poems on the bus home from work and laugh. I was intrigued. Then I opened the book at random and 'no leaders, please' was the first poem that I read. Wow.