"I had no interests. I had no interest in anything. I had no idea how I was going to escape. At least the others had some taste for life. They seemed to understand something that I didn’t understand. Maybe I was lacking. It was possible. I often felt inferior. I just wanted to get away from them. But there was no place to go. Suicide? Jesus Christ, just more work. I felt like sleeping for five years but they wouldn’t let me"
About this Quote
The subtext is social before it’s philosophical. "At least the others had some taste for life" frames vitality as an inside joke everyone else got invited to. Bukowski’s speaker isn’t romanticizing isolation; he’s irritated by the mere existence of people who can want things. That irritation curdles into shame: "Maybe I was lacking". He can’t decide whether he’s uniquely perceptive or simply defective, and that ambiguity is the engine of the passage.
Then comes the signature Bukowski pivot: suicide isn’t tragic, it’s labor. "Jesus Christ, just more work" mocks the culture’s melodrama and exposes a bleaker truth: even self-erasure requires effort, planning, follow-through. When you’re exhausted at the level of identity, even oblivion feels like paperwork.
"I felt like sleeping for five years but they wouldn’t let me" widens "they" into society, routine, rent, expectation - the whole machine that keeps bodies moving long after desire has left. The intent isn’t confession for sympathy; it’s a refusal to prettify psychic depletion, delivered with a smirk sharp enough to draw blood.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mental Health |
|---|---|
| Source | "Ham On Rye". Book by Charles Bukowski, 1982. |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bukowski, Charles. (2026, February 10). I had no interests. I had no interest in anything. I had no idea how I was going to escape. At least the others had some taste for life. They seemed to understand something that I didn’t understand. Maybe I was lacking. It was possible. I often felt inferior. I just wanted to get away from them. But there was no place to go. Suicide? Jesus Christ, just more work. I felt like sleeping for five years but they wouldn’t let me. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-had-no-interests-i-had-no-interest-in-anything-185213/
Chicago Style
Bukowski, Charles. "I had no interests. I had no interest in anything. I had no idea how I was going to escape. At least the others had some taste for life. They seemed to understand something that I didn’t understand. Maybe I was lacking. It was possible. I often felt inferior. I just wanted to get away from them. But there was no place to go. Suicide? Jesus Christ, just more work. I felt like sleeping for five years but they wouldn’t let me." FixQuotes. February 10, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-had-no-interests-i-had-no-interest-in-anything-185213/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I had no interests. I had no interest in anything. I had no idea how I was going to escape. At least the others had some taste for life. They seemed to understand something that I didn’t understand. Maybe I was lacking. It was possible. I often felt inferior. I just wanted to get away from them. But there was no place to go. Suicide? Jesus Christ, just more work. I felt like sleeping for five years but they wouldn’t let me." FixQuotes, 10 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-had-no-interests-i-had-no-interest-in-anything-185213/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
