Context

This is from the poem "And the Moon and the Stars and the World" by Charles Bukowski.

This quote is a bit tricky because it starts you off on a sweet note. The poet tells us that long walks are good for the soul, which makes it sound like he's giving us some fun exercise advice. Aren't the moon and the stars lovely at night…oh, and that drunk guy pawing at his wife, too? Basically, Bukowski is kind of reveling in his role as a truth-seeker. He likes his long walks…even when they end up revealing the worst in people.

Where you've heard it

This sounds like the kind of thing you might see inspirationally lettered on Pinterest. Make sure you mention to anyone looking to buy this in poster form for their dorm room that they might want to read the whole poem first.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

People love long walks. There's nothing pretentious about them. It's mentioning the beer-maddened husbands that might get you some strange looks.