--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual…" description: "\"Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.\" — Anna Akhmatova" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/anna-akhmatova-3933_ashtrays_hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beauti_1163861.jpg" --- # Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter. ![“Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.” quote by Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/anna-akhmatova-3933_ashtrays_hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beauti_1163861.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/anna-akhmatova-3933_ashtrays_hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beauti_1163861.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/anna-akhmatova-3933_ashtrays_hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beauti_1163861.jpg) > “Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.” [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A ritual involving fire symbols evokes both beauty and bitterness. **In simple terms:** Rituals can be beautiful yet painful. Key Takeaway Recognize the dual nature of rituals. Themes ritual beauty bitter fire Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic literary When to use this quote - daily habits - ceremonies - creative processes - grieving Key Concepts symbolism contradiction Questions to Reflect On - What rituals bring you comfort? - When do rituals become a source of pain? A Different Perspective Rituals may also trap us in harmful patterns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/) [Ashtray Ritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray-ritual-3343993/) [Ashtrays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtrays/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beautiful Bitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful-bitter-3343995/) [Bitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitter/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Matches Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matches-ashtray-3343994/) [Ritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ritual/) [Ritual Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ritual-beautiful-1904033/) ## Related quotes > [There is nothing more agreeable than having a place where one can throw on the floor as many cigar butts as one pleases without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/there-is-nothing-more-agreeable-than-having-a-place-where-one-can/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [I smoke wherever there's an ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margrethe-ii-of-denmark/i-smoke-wherever-there-s-an-ashtray/) [Margrethe II of Denmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margrethe-ii-of-denmark/) > [After that, whenever I drove past Mangakahia, I would empty my ashtray - and I was a heavy smoker in those days - on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lange/after-that-whenever-i-drove-past-mangakahia-i-would-empty-my-ashtray/) [David Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lange/) > [A rental car is basically an ashtray on wheels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/a-rental-car-is-basically-an-ashtray-on-wheels/) [Scott Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-adams/) > [I simply cannot imagine why anyone would eat something slimy served in an ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beard/i-simply-cannot-imagine-why-anyone-would-eat-something-slimy-served/) [Henry Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beard/) > [You can find shame in every house, burning in an ashtray, hanging framed upon a wall, covering a bed. But nobody notices it any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/you-can-find-shame-in-every-house-burning-in-an-ashtray-hanging/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I smoke too much whether it's going well or badly. After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-smoke-too-much-whether-it-s-going-well-or-badly-after-all-these/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/) [Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/) > [The best trick I learned was when a priest came to me when I was an altar boy and said, "Always, when you make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ragnar-kjartansson/the-best-trick-i-learned-was-when-a-priest-came-to-me-when-i-was-an/) [Ragnar Kjartansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ragnar-kjartansson/) > [British scientists have demonstrated that cigarettes can harm your children. Fair enough. Use an ashtray!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carr/british-scientists-have-demonstrated-that-cigarettes-can-harm-your/) [Jimmy Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carr/) > [ Writing a play is like smashing that \[glass\] ashtray, filming it in slow motion, and then running the film in reverse, so that the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/writing-a-play-is-like-smashing-that-glass-ashtray-filming-it-in-slow/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [The sky was so clear that the starlight cast shadows, and so many sparkles and glitters and glints appeared above us that it looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-sky-was-so-clear-that-the-starlight-cast-shadows-and-so-many/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/kissing-a-smoker-is-like-licking-an-ashtray/) [Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/) > [“all people start to come apart finally and there it is: just empty ashtrays in a room or wisps of hair on a comb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/all-people-start-to-come-apart-finally-and-there-it-is-just-empty/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [You know Kim Jong Un, the evil dictator of North Korea? Apparently, a guy in his inner circle used his ashtray while smoking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/you-know-kim-jong-un-the-evil-dictator-of-north-korea-apparently-a/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) ## More by Anna Akhmatova > [Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/wild-honey-smells-of-freedom-the-dust-of-sunlight-the-mouth-of-a/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Song falls silent, music is dumb, But the air burns with their fragrance, And white winter, on its knees, Observes everything with reverent attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/song-falls-silent-music-is-dumb-but-the-air-burns-with-their/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“That is why we love this city – Dark and stern, and full of water, And we love our separations, And brief moments when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/that-is-why-we-love-this-city-dark-and-stern-and-full-of-water-and-we/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Give me bitter years of sickness, Suffocation, insomnia, fever, Take my child and my lover, And my mysterious gift of song This I pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/give-me-bitter-years-of-sickness-suffocation-insomnia-fever-take-my/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Sweet to me was not the voice of man, But the wind's voice was understood by me. The burdocks and the nettles fed my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/sweet-to-me-was-not-the-voice-of-man-but-the-wind-s-voice-was/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [We learned not to meet anymore, We don't raise our eyes to one another, But we ourselves won't guarantee What could happen to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/we-learned-not-to-meet-anymore-we-don-t-raise-our-eyes-to-one-another/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“ In Dream Black and enduring separation I share equally with you. Why weep? Gove me your hand, promise me you will come again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/in-dream-black-and-enduring-separation-i-share-equally-with-you-why/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“But don’t raise your eyes in defiance, Protect my life, my dear. They’re brighter than first violets, But deadly to me, I fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/but-don-t-raise-your-eyes-in-defiance-protect-my-life-my-dear-they-re/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Forgive me, that I manage badly, Manage badly but live gloriously, That I leave traces of myself in my songs, That I appeared to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/forgive-me-that-i-manage-badly-manage-badly-but-live-gloriously-that/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [Rising from the past, my shadow Is running in silence to meet me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/rising-from-the-past-my-shadow-is-running-in-silence-to-meet-me/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [We aged a hundred years, and this happened in a single hour: the short summer had already died, the body of the ploughed plains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/we-aged-a-hundred-years-and-this-happened-in-a-single-hour-the-short/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [It was a time when only the dead smiled, happy in their peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/it-was-a-time-when-only-the-dead-smiled-happy-in-their-peace/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [But here, in the murk of conflagration, where scarcely a friend is left to know we, the survivors, do not flinch from anything, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/but-here-in-the-murk-of-conflagration-where-scarcely-a-friend-is-left/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“Let my heiress have full rights, Live in my house, sing songs that I composed. Yet how slowly my strength ebbs, How the tortured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/let-my-heiress-have-full-rights-live-in-my-house-sing-songs-that-i/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [You do not know just what you've been forgiven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/you-do-not-know-just-what-you-ve-been-forgiven/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) [Explore all 118 Anna Akhmatova quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) ## More Ashtray quotes > [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [If we found an ashtray in the studio, we'd try to play it and find a part for it in a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dusty-hill/if-we-found-an-ashtray-in-the-studio-we-d-try-to-play-it-and-find-a/) [Dusty Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dusty-hill/) > [I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/i-think-an-ashtray-is-the-most-fantastically-real-thing/) [Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/) > [“My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising from her cup entwining with the smoke curling from her cigarette resting on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-the-steam-rising-from-her-cup/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“Six pull-tabs lay in the ashtray like scales from a mermaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/six-pull-tabs-lay-in-the-ashtray-like-scales-from-a-mermaid/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“She reached into an alabaster box and pulled out a violet cigarette that also exactly matched her eyes. Some people just don't know when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-k-wolf/she-reached-into-an-alabaster-box-and-pulled-out-a-violet-cigarette/) [Gary K. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-k-wolf/) > [“She’s finished her cigarette but hasn’t put it out properly, so it’s still smoking in the ashtray. I crush mine into it, grinding until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/she-s-finished-her-cigarette-but-hasn-t-put-it-out-properly-so-it-s/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“Me and Mama never did like the smell of cigarettes but after Daddy died, sometimes we would light one up and put it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-morgan-denkers/me-and-mama-never-did-like-the-smell-of-cigarettes-but-after-daddy/) [Sandi Morgan Denkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-morgan-denkers/) > [“If someone burns out your eye I will take your socket and use it for an ashtray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/if-someone-burns-out-your-eye-i-will-take-your-socket-and-use-it-for/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“Air was filtering out of my two collapsing lungs. Water rose, bubbling to enter, and I would have died of instantaneous pneumonia - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/air-was-filtering-out-of-my-two-collapsing-lungs-water-rose-bubbling/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/) [William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/) > [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/) [Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/) > [“I had a dream about you. You had just died, and I was debating putting your body into either a coffin or a shoebox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-had-a-dream-about-you-you-had-just-died-and-i-was-debating-putting/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“in his hand the heavy, rectangular onyx ashtray that had been on the table. Was he out of his mind? He’d crack her skull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-hand-the-heavy-rectangular-onyx-ashtray-that-had-been-on-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“...doing the smoker's comedy act: he hunted automatically for an ashtray, didn't find one, tipped his ashes into the palm of his hand,...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/doing-the-smoker-s-comedy-act-he-hunted-automatically-for-an-ashtray/) [Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/) [Browse all 33 Ashtray quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Hands, matches, an ashtray. 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