--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to lay drunk in alleys and I…" description: "\"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.\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/901/charles-bukowski-73_alleys_i-used-to-lay-drunk-in-alleys-and-i-prob_209252.jpg" --- # I used to lay drunk in alleys and I probably will… ![“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.” quote by Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/901/charles-bukowski-73_alleys_i-used-to-lay-drunk-in-alleys-and-i-prob_209252.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/901/charles-bukowski-73_alleys_i-used-to-lay-drunk-in-alleys-and-i-prob_209252.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/901/charles-bukowski-73_alleys_i-used-to-lay-drunk-in-alleys-and-i-prob_209252.jpg) > “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.” [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 speaker reflects on past drunkenness, doubts relevance of Bukowski’s work to his life, and questions the author’s identity. **In simple terms:** Past habits linger; literary influence uncertain. Key Takeaway Question personal relevance of influences. Themes addiction self‑reflection literature Mood introspective conflicted Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - nightlife - writing - self‑analysis Key Concepts identity authenticity self‑awareness Questions to Reflect On - Do you see yourself in Bukowski’s themes? - How does past behavior shape current identity? A Different Perspective Self‑identification may be limited by personal bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Drunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drunk/) ## Related quotes > [The cat of the slums and alleys, starved, outcast, harried, still keeps amid the prowlings of its adversity the bold, free, panther-tread with which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-hugh-munro/the-cat-of-the-slums-and-alleys-starved-outcast-harried-still-keeps/) [Hector Hugh Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-hugh-munro/) > [That moment - to this ... may be years in the way they measure, but it's only one sentence back in my mind -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/that-moment-to-this-may-be-years-in-the-way-they-measure-but-it-s/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I was beaten down long ago in some alley in another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-was-beaten-down-long-ago-in-some-alley-in-another-world/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [The costume designer, her name is Anne Hardinge. She's done "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." She's really comedic costume designer, which was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerusha-hess/the-costume-designer-her-name-is-anne-hardinge-she-s-done-shaun-of/) [Jerusha Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerusha-hess/) > [When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we're going to be having a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-we-come-face-to-face-with-one-down-a-dark-alley-we-re-going-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You start out with the sublime and you end up in an alley jerking away for dear life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/you-start-out-with-the-sublime-and-you-end-up-in-an-alley-jerking/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy New England wood. There was too much silence in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-trees-grew-too-thickly-and-their-trunks-were-too-big-for-any/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [ Singing, dancing, and acting! The part \[of Roxie in Let It Shine\] was right up my alley. Plus, the thought of playing a rock… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-jones/singing-dancing-and-acting-the-part-of-roxie-in-let-it-shine-was/) [Coco Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-jones/) > [...wings—-vast shimmering wings, their reach so great they swept the walls on either side of the alley, each feather like the wind-tugged lick of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/wings-vast-shimmering-wings-their-reach-so-great-they-swept-the-walls/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [It would be hilarious if I worked in a bowling alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-plaza/it-would-be-hilarious-if-i-worked-in-a-bowling-alley/) [Aubrey Plaza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-plaza/) > [If Elmore Leonard met Jim Thompson down a dark alley at midnight they might emerge a week later with thick beards, bloodshot eyes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/if-elmore-leonard-met-jim-thompson-down-a-dark-alley-at-midnight-they/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [In most cases, the best strategy for a job interview is to be fairly honest, because the worst thing that can happen is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-most-cases-the-best-strategy-for-a-job-interview-is-to-be-fairly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Victim disarmament types are sick, sick people, who'd rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose than see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/victim-disarmament-types-are-sick-sick-people-who-d-rather-see-a/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [She glances back before stepping into the alley, and she catches her grandfather looking at her the way he does sometimes--as if she's already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/she-glances-back-before-stepping-into-the-alley-and-she-catches-her/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [Dashiell Hammett took murder out of theVenetian vase and dropped it into the alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/dashiell-hammett-took-murder-out-of-thevenetian-vase-and-dropped-it/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) ## 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. 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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 Alleys quotes > [Dashiell Hammett took murder out of theVenetian vase and dropped it into the alley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/dashiell-hammett-took-murder-out-of-thevenetian-vase-and-dropped-it/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [She glances back before stepping into the alley, and she catches her grandfather looking at her the way he does sometimes--as if she's already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/she-glances-back-before-stepping-into-the-alley-and-she-catches-her/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [Victim disarmament types are sick, sick people, who'd rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose than see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/victim-disarmament-types-are-sick-sick-people-who-d-rather-see-a/) [L. 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The part \[of Roxie in Let It Shine\] was right up my alley. Plus, the thought of playing a rock… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-jones/singing-dancing-and-acting-the-part-of-roxie-in-let-it-shine-was/) [Coco Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-jones/) > [The trees grew too thickly, and their trunks were too big for any healthy New England wood. There was too much silence in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/the-trees-grew-too-thickly-and-their-trunks-were-too-big-for-any/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [You start out with the sublime and you end up in an alley jerking away for dear life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/you-start-out-with-the-sublime-and-you-end-up-in-an-alley-jerking/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we're going to be having a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-we-come-face-to-face-with-one-down-a-dark-alley-we-re-going-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The costume designer, her name is Anne Hardinge. She's done "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." She's really comedic costume designer, which was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerusha-hess/the-costume-designer-her-name-is-anne-hardinge-she-s-done-shaun-of/) [Jerusha Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerusha-hess/) > [I wish I could close my eyes and be blown into dust and nothingness, feel all my thoughts disperse like dandelion fluff drifting off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wish-i-could-close-my-eyes-and-be-blown-into-dust-and-nothingness-2/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [One hurries through, even though there's time; the past, the continent, is behind; the future is the glowing mouth in the side of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/one-hurries-through-even-though-there-s-time-the-past-the-continent/) [F. 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