As is often the case whenever I try express a thought, there’s always someone who’s done it so much better…

From The Shoelace by Charles Bukowski, Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (1972).

it’s not the large things that send a man to the
madhouse. death he’s ready for, or murder, incest, robbery, fire, flood…
no, it’s the continuing series of small tragedies
that send a man to the
madhouse…
not the death of his love
but a shoelace that snaps
with no time left …