--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fire really means a certain kind of…" description: "\"Fire really means a certain kind of burning in the soul that one can no longer tolerate when one is pushed against a wall.\" — Cornel West" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/cornel-west-708_burning_fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burn_2663218.jpg" --- # Fire really means a certain kind of burning in the soul… ![“Fire really means a certain kind of burning in the soul that one can no longer tolerate when one is pushed against a wall.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/cornel-west-708_burning_fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burn_2663218.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/cornel-west-708_burning_fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burn_2663218.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/cornel-west-708_burning_fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burn_2663218.jpg) > “Fire really means a certain kind of burning in the soul that one can no longer tolerate when one is pushed against a wall.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intense inner fire signals a breaking point, demanding change. **In simple terms:** Burning soul demands action. Key Takeaway Heed inner urgency. Themes psychology passion resilience change Mood intense motivational Type psychological philosophical When to use this quote - personal crisis counseling - creative pursuits - social movement leadership - stress management Key Concepts emotional thresholds motivational theory social activism Questions to Reflect On - What transforms pain into purpose? - How to channel intense emotions constructively? A Different Perspective Burning can be destructive if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Burning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burning/) [Burning Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burning-soul-446328/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Kind Burning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind-burning-2444613/) [Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/means/) [Pushed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pushed/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Tolerate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerate/) [Tolerate Pushed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerate-pushed-719022/) ## Related quotes > [The burning soul, the burden'd mind, In books alone companions find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-josepha-hale/the-burning-soul-the-burden-d-mind-in-books-alone-companions-find/) [Sarah Josepha Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-josepha-hale/) > [America will not tolerate being pushed around by anybody, anyplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/america-will-not-tolerate-being-pushed-around-by-anybody-anyplace/) [Richard M. Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-nixon/) > [“For our kind, there's always the burning to be more. (...) that is why true human beings feel more pain. Because we are more,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zindell/for-our-kind-there-s-always-the-burning-to-be-more-that-is-why-true/) [David Zindell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zindell/) > [Ambition is a kind of fire that is burning within and must not be doused until you reach your goal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-coleman/ambition-is-a-kind-of-fire-that-is-burning-within-and-must-not-be/) [Damian Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-coleman/) > [Man with his burning soul Has but an hour of breath To build a ship of Truth In which his soul may sail- Sail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-masefield/man-with-his-burning-soul-has-but-an-hour-of-breath-to-build-a-ship/) [John Masefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-masefield/) > [You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-b-lee/you-cannot-lift-another-soul-until-you-are-standing-on-higher-ground/) [Harold B. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-b-lee/) > [“His gaze is burning into my soul and I ache to have him again and again and again. I just want to crawl inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-dominguez/his-gaze-is-burning-into-my-soul-and-i-ache-to-have-him-again-and/) [Ella Dominguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-dominguez/) > [I always pushed myself. Whenever I felt I needed to stop, I made myself run faster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/i-always-pushed-myself-whenever-i-felt-i-needed-to-stop-i-made-myself/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [I had the flu in New York and pushed the President of the United States off the front pages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-coogan/i-had-the-flu-in-new-york-and-pushed-the-president-of-the-united/) [Jackie Coogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-coogan/) > [Playing Isabella in 'Measure for Measure' pushed me to my limits. Janet Suzman was directing, and she was very hard on me. I went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-dockery/playing-isabella-in-measure-for-measure-pushed-me-to-my-limits-janet/) [Michelle Dockery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-dockery/) > [“I've been known to be contrary. When something pushes me, I shove back. Even if the one doing the pushing is me. It would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/i-ve-been-known-to-be-contrary-when-something-pushes-me-i-shove-back/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [You don't ever have to feel pushed into anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanel-west-coast/you-don-t-ever-have-to-feel-pushed-into-anything/) [Chanel West Coast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanel-west-coast/) > [“When you are pushed to the wall, you will act and do things you have never done before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/when-you-are-pushed-to-the-wall-you-will-act-and-do-things-you-have/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [If ur getting pushed away, dont hold on tighter. Letting go when ur getting pushed is the only way she will feel what its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hemantsmarty/if-ur-getting-pushed-away-dont-hold-on-tighter-letting-go-when-ur/) [Hemantsmarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hemantsmarty/) > [Where I come from you're not raised to think on your own. It's not that you're pushed to read the Bible. The Bible is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abel-ferrara/where-i-come-from-you-re-not-raised-to-think-on-your-own-it-s-not/) [Abel Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abel-ferrara/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Burning quotes > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with an ingot of red -hot iron: I have to pick up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-desire-to-kill-is-like-the-desire-to-attack-another-with-an-ingot/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The entire cosmos is one vast burning bush, permeated by the fire of the divine power and glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallistos-ware/the-entire-cosmos-is-one-vast-burning-bush-permeated-by-the-fire-of/) [Kallistos Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallistos-ware/) > [Two beautiful women crashing and burning for the sake of the Women's Championship!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-ross/two-beautiful-women-crashing-and-burning-for-the-sake-of-the-women-s/) [Jim Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-ross/) > [He lowered the window, and looked out at the rising sun. There was a ridge of ploughed land, with a plough upon it where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/he-lowered-the-window-and-looked-out-at-the-rising-sun-there-was-a/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-donoso-cortes/catholicity-seized-on-man-and-the-mystics-transcending-all-taught-him/) [Juan Donoso Cortes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-donoso-cortes/) > [Some fighters know when to stop on their own and go on to something else, and then some fighters have nothing to go back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-hagler/some-fighters-know-when-to-stop-on-their-own-and-go-on-to-something/) [Marvin Hagler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-hagler/) > [Death is staring too long into the burning sun and the relief of entering a cool, dark room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/death-is-staring-too-long-into-the-burning-sun-and-the-relief-of/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [All philanthropy ... is only a savory fumigation burning at the mouth of a sewer. This incense offering makes the air more endurable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-key/all-philanthropy-is-only-a-savory-fumigation-burning-at-the-mouth-of/) [Ellen Key](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-key/) > [Time is a vindictive bandit to steal the beauty of our former selves. We are left with sagging, rippled flesh and burning gums with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael/time-is-a-vindictive-bandit-to-steal-the-beauty-of-our-former-selves/) [Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael/) > [One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one's happiness to express.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-moore/one-writes-because-one-has-a-burning-desire-to-objectify-what-it-is/) [Marianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-moore/) > [Nearly all runners do their slow runs too fast, and their fast runs too slow." Ken Mierke says. "So they're just training their bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-mcdougall/nearly-all-runners-do-their-slow-runs-too-fast-and-their-fast-runs/) [Christopher McDougall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-mcdougall/) > [Intense, burning desire is the motivational force that enables you to overcome any obstacle and achieve almost any goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/intense-burning-desire-is-the-motivational-force-that-enables-you-to/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [Will closed his eyes. He could not hear Jem go, not anymore; he did not want to know the moment when he left and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/will-closed-his-eyes-he-could-not-hear-jem-go-not-anymore-he-did-not/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) [Browse all 1,668 Burning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fire really means a certain kind of burning in the soul that one can no longer tolerate when one is pushed against a wall.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burning-in-the-soul-that-one-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Burning" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burning-in-the-soul-that-one-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/cornel-west-708_burning_fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burn_2663218.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/cornel-west-708_burning_fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burn_2663218.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afb/cornel-west-708_burning_fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burn_2663218.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fire really means a certain kind of burning in the soul that one can no longer tolerate when one is pushed…” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cornel West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fire really means a certain kind...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burning-in-the-soul-that-one-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/fire-really-means-a-certain-kind-of-burning-in-the-soul-that-one-can/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```