--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the problem that I’ve found with most…" description: "\"“the problem that I’ve found with most poets that I have known is that they’ve never had an 8 hour job and there is nothing that will put a person more..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/charles-bukowski-73_poet_the-problem-that-i-ve-found-with-most-po_2810909.jpg" --- # the problem that I’ve found with most poets that I have… ![“the problem that I’ve found with most poets that I have known is that they’ve never had an 8 hour job and there is nothing that will put a person more in touch with the realities than an 8 hour job. they have been protected against the actualities from the beginning and they understand nothing but…” quote by Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/charles-bukowski-73_poet_the-problem-that-i-ve-found-with-most-po_2810909.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/charles-bukowski-73_poet_the-problem-that-i-ve-found-with-most-po_2810909.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/charles-bukowski-73_poet_the-problem-that-i-ve-found-with-most-po_2810909.jpg) > ““the problem that I’ve found with most poets that I have known is that they’ve never had an 8 hour job and there is nothing that will put a person more in touch with the realities than an 8 hour job. they have been protected against the actualities from the beginning and they understand nothing but the ends of their fingernails and their delicate hairlines and their lymph nodes. their words are unlived, unfurnished, un- true, and worse—so fashionably dull. poet (?): that word needs re-defining.”” [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. He argues that regular work grounds poets in real life, preventing their art from becoming detached and overly aesthetic. **In simple terms:** Regular jobs keep poets realistic. Key Takeaway Seek real experiences to enrich writing. Themes work reality art authenticity Mood critical reflective Type observational critical When to use this quote - career - writing - daily life - creative process Key Concepts social class creative authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How does routine influence creativity? - Can detachment be valuable? A Different Perspective Art can also thrive without conventional jobs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) ## Related quotes > [“most of these American poets pushing and hustling their talents playing at greatness. poet (?): that word needs re- defining. when I hear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/most-of-these-american-poets-pushing-and-hustling-their-talents/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [You are the song of every bird, you are the poet's every word, every artist's picture, every writer's play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/you-are-the-song-of-every-bird-you-are-the-poet-s-every-word-every/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [Thus, the poet's word is beginning to strike forcefully upon the hearts of all men, while absolute men of letters think that they alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/thus-the-poet-s-word-is-beginning-to-strike-forcefully-upon-the/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [It is not the poet's business to save man's soul but to make it worth saving . . . 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Haldane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-s-haldane/) ## 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. 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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 Poet quotes > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. 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