--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I often carry things to read so that I…" description: "\"I often carry things to read so that I will not have to look at the people.\" — Charles Bukowski" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/charles-bukowski-73_books_i-often-carry-things-to-read-so-that-i-w_2520996.jpg" --- # I often carry things to read so that I will not have to… ![“I often carry things to read so that I will not have to look at the people.” quote by Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/charles-bukowski-73_books_i-often-carry-things-to-read-so-that-i-w_2520996.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/charles-bukowski-73_books_i-often-carry-things-to-read-so-that-i-w_2520996.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/16e/charles-bukowski-73_books_i-often-carry-things-to-read-so-that-i-w_2520996.jpg) > “I often carry things to read so that I will not have to look at the people.” [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The writer avoids eye contact by reading, using books as a shield from social interaction. **In simple terms:** Reading to avoid looking at people. Key Takeaway Use reading as a social buffer. Themes introversion avoidance literature Mood introspective defensive Type personal reflective When to use this quote - daily commute - waiting rooms - lonely evenings Key Concepts social anxiety coping mechanisms Questions to Reflect On - Why avoid eye contact? - What does reading provide you? A Different Perspective May hinder genuine connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [There's not much point in getting any heavier... there's too many things to read and look at.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/there-s-not-much-point-in-getting-any-heavier-there-s-too-many-things/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [You carry the things that you do well, you try to cut the things that you aren't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gardner-minshew/you-carry-the-things-that-you-do-well-you-try-to-cut-the-things-that/) [Gardner Minshew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gardner-minshew/) > [We must carry things beyond conversation to conclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-evans/we-must-carry-things-beyond-conversation-to-conclusion/) [Richard L. Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-evans/) > [The arrogance of the able-bodied is staggering. Yes, maybe we'd like to be able to get places quickly, and carry things in both hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/the-arrogance-of-the-able-bodied-is-staggering-yes-maybe-we-d-like-to/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [We all carry these things inside that no one else can see. They hold us down like anchors, they drown us out at sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bring-me-the-horizon/we-all-carry-these-things-inside-that-no-one-else-can-see-they-hold-2/) [Bring Me The Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bring-me-the-horizon/) > [I want this only if you like one direction read this and look at this](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-want-this-only-if-you-like-one-direction-read-this-and-look-at-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We all carry these things, inside that no one else can see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam/we-all-carry-these-things-inside-that-no-one-else-can-see/) [Sam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam/) > [I am not writing for scholars or fellow critics, but for people who like to read, to look at pictures, and to know things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-davenport/i-am-not-writing-for-scholars-or-fellow-critics-but-for-people-who/) [Guy Davenport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-davenport/) > [Oh, I never read anything. 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People who carry things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-carmody/technology-is-for-us-all-of-us-people-who-carry-things/) Tim Carmody > [We carry these things inside that no one else can see they hold us down like anchors they drown us out of sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-carry-these-things-inside-that-no-one-else-can-see-they-hold-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-must-understand-the-whole-of-life-not-just-one-little-part-of-it/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I don't like to carry things in my pockets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ej-johnson/i-don-t-like-to-carry-things-in-my-pockets/) [EJ Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ej-johnson/) ## More by Charles Bukowski > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [well, death says, as he walks by, I'm going to get you anyhow no matter what you've been: writer, cab-driver, pimp, butcher, sky-diver, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/well-death-says-as-he-walks-by-i-m-going-to-get-you-anyhow-no-matter/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. A writer who has to go into the streets is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/there-is-only-one-place-to-write-and-that-is-alone-at-a-typewriter-a/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Even the stove and the refrigerator looked human, I mean good human - they seemed to have arms and voices and they said, hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/even-the-stove-and-the-refrigerator-looked-human-i-mean-good-human/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“nerves twitching in the sheets -- to face the sunlight again, that's clearly trouble. I like the city better when the neon lights are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/nerves-twitching-in-the-sheets-to-face-the-sunlight-again-that-s/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Their Love Is Average, Seeks Average But There Is Genius In Their Hatred”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/their-love-is-average-seeks-average-but-there-is-genius-in-their/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I climbed the stairway (there was no elevator) and put the key in. The door swung open. Somebody had changed all the furniture around,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-climbed-the-stairway-there-was-no-elevator-and-put-the-key-in-the/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Strangers when you meet, strangers when you part -a gymnasium of bodies namelessly masturbating each other. People with no morals often considered themselves more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/strangers-when-you-meet-strangers-when-you-part-a-gymnasium-of-bodies/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I like to change liquor stores frequently because the clerks got to know your habits if you went in night and day and bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-like-to-change-liquor-stores-frequently-because-the-clerks-got-to/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I was like a turd that drew flies instead of like a flower that butterflies and bees desired. I wanted to live alone,I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-was-like-a-turd-that-drew-flies-instead-of-like-a-flower-that/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [It's 4:30 in the morning, it's always 4:30 in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/it-s-4-30-in-the-morning-it-s-always-4-30-in-the-morning/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I had no feeling for the things so many others needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-had-no-feeling-for-the-things-so-many-others-needed/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“I am sick with caring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-am-sick-with-caring/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I went home each night dizzy and sick. He was murdering me with the sound of his voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-went-home-each-night-dizzy-and-sick-he-was-murdering-me-with-the/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“the nights you fight best are when all the weapons are pointed at you, when all the voices hurl their insults while the dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/the-nights-you-fight-best-are-when-all-the-weapons-are-pointed-at-you/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) [Explore all 1,492 Charles Bukowski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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