--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I once found a phoenix charred in its own…" description: "\"“I once found a phoenix charred in its own ashes. I brought it home with me, wept through the night, and then tossed it to the wind--its brittle body d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/266/j-andrew-schrecker-32322_ashes_i-once-found-a-phoenix-charred-in-its-ow_2865673.jpg" --- # I once found a phoenix charred in its own ashes. I brought… ![“I once found a phoenix charred in its own ashes. I brought it home with me, wept through the night, and then tossed it to the wind--its brittle body dispersing all about. This thing without a name and deep within me--how it truly believes that if something is meant to take flight, then it must one…” quote by J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/266/j-andrew-schrecker-32322_ashes_i-once-found-a-phoenix-charred-in-its-ow_2865673.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/266/j-andrew-schrecker-32322_ashes_i-once-found-a-phoenix-charred-in-its-ow_2865673.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/266/j-andrew-schrecker-32322_ashes_i-once-found-a-phoenix-charred-in-its-ow_2865673.jpg) > ““I once found a phoenix charred in its own ashes. I brought it home with me, wept through the night, and then tossed it to the wind--its brittle body dispersing all about. This thing without a name and deep within me--how it truly believes that if something is meant to take flight, then it must one way or another.”” [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A phoenix reborn from ashes symbolizes resilience; destiny may demand transformation. **In simple terms:** Resilience emerges from destruction; destiny may require change. Key Takeaway Embrace transformation to fulfill purpose. Themes resilience phoenix destiny Mood inspirational reflective Type mythical motivational When to use this quote - personal loss - creative renewal - career pivot Key Concepts rebirth self‑discovery purpose Questions to Reflect On - What “ash” are you ready to rise from? - How does destiny shape your choices? A Different Perspective Transformation can be painful and uncertain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) [Ashes Brought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes-brought-3892318/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Charred Ashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/charred-ashes-3601960/) [Closure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/closure/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Meant Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meant-flight-3892317/) [Phoenix Charred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phoenix-charred-3892316/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Today at Pearl Harbor, veterans are gathering to pay tribute to the young men they remember who never escaped the sunken ships. And over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/today-at-pearl-harbor-veterans-are-gathering-to-pay-tribute-to-the/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“I wasn’t even certain if my wings were meant for flight. I hadn’t exactly had any luck with it the one time I’d tried.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shana-abe/i-wasn-t-even-certain-if-my-wings-were-meant-for-flight-i-hadn-t/) [Shana Abe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shana-abe/) > [“Foolish humans. They had no idea what they were dealing with. No idea that the only way to kill a Deruvian was to burn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/foolish-humans-they-had-no-idea-what-they-were-dealing-with-no-idea/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [I'm considering 'Dark Souls 3' to be the big closure on the series. 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When talent like that disappears in a flash, you can't believe it. You deny it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-merrill/i-was-devastated-i-m-still-devastated-to-this-day-when-talent-like/) [Helen Merrill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-merrill/) > [“Well, anyway… it’s over,” I say, realizing that those two words lump me right in with a hoard of naive women who say it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/well-anyway-it-s-over-i-say-realizing-that-those-two-words-lump-me/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [“If you have feelings for someone, let them know. It doesn’t matter if they can be in your life or not. Maybe, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/if-you-have-feelings-for-someone-let-them-know-it-doesn-t-matter-if/) [Shannon L. 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And what's more, it feels like a rejection where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-hussey/ghosting-s-a-horrible-thing-isn-t-it-it-doesn-t-feel-good-it-feels/) [Matthew Hussey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-hussey/) > [“i tried to find it but there was no answer at the end of the last conversation - closure”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupi-kaur/i-tried-to-find-it-but-there-was-no-answer-at-the-end-of-the-last/) [Rupi Kaur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupi-kaur/) > [Ambiguity is necessary in some of my stories, not in all. In those, it certainly contributes to the richness of the story. I doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/ambiguity-is-necessary-in-some-of-my-stories-not-in-all-in-those-it/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Denial leads to closure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aruho-marwin-machiaveli/denial-leads-to-closure/) [Aruho Marwin Machiaveli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aruho-marwin-machiaveli/) > [“...our loves ones truly are ever-present. We may bury their bodies or scatter their ashes, but their spirits are boundless and do not accompany…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-slaughter/our-loves-ones-truly-are-ever-present-we-may-bury-their-bodies-or/) [April Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-slaughter/) ## More by J. Andrew Schrecker > [“I've never been a good representation of me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/i-ve-never-been-a-good-representation-of-me/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“Let us shed digital skin, make Mecca of faces. Let us be mirrors facing mirrors, the spaces we contain made infinite by one another's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/let-us-shed-digital-skin-make-mecca-of-faces-let-us-be-mirrors-facing/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“What I want is for you to touch me in ways that hands and teeth and skin cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/what-i-want-is-for-you-to-touch-me-in-ways-that-hands-and-teeth-and/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“Women born works of art, men doomed to spend entire lifetimes trying to create just one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/women-born-works-of-art-men-doomed-to-spend-entire-lifetimes-trying/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“The kind of love I seek is a folie a deux.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/the-kind-of-love-i-seek-is-a-folie-a-deux/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“How we devour one another's culture, do so without shame--ideas like water, free flowing and able to take on other forms. Able to flood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/how-we-devour-one-another-s-culture-do-so-without-shame-ideas-like/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“Nostalgia an excuse not to live, kills us all in the end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/nostalgia-an-excuse-not-to-live-kills-us-all-in-the-end/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“There's a lot of humiliation in living, but that's okay, for if the gods are always laughing, then surely at times they must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/there-s-a-lot-of-humiliation-in-living-but-that-s-okay-for-if-the/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“Alarm clocks unset, their taunts silent. Crystals flashing dire red, as if to warn of seconds that dwell, of years that fleet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/alarm-clocks-unset-their-taunts-silent-crystals-flashing-dire-red-as/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“What other nations fail to recognize in us--our consumerism--is that we don't simply want to own everything, we want to be everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/what-other-nations-fail-to-recognize-in-us-our-consumerism-is-that-we/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“There are worse things than dying alone or afraid, such as dying unafraid, or dying twice, or dying to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/there-are-worse-things-than-dying-alone-or-afraid-such-as-dying/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“We aren't always kind to one another, but want to be, and I believe that is the same thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/we-aren-t-always-kind-to-one-another-but-want-to-be-and-i-believe/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“And yes, life is mostly boring, and we each go through it feeling ugly or like a failure, but sometimes the sun cuts through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/and-yes-life-is-mostly-boring-and-we-each-go-through-it-feeling-ugly/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) > [“Old movies already in progress, already passed over twice, watched with indifference until orchestras swell over happy endings, new beginnings. The images black and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-andrew-schrecker/old-movies-already-in-progress-already-passed-over-twice-watched-with/) [J. Andrew Schrecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) [Explore all 15 J. Andrew Schrecker quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-andrew-schrecker/) ## More Ashes quotes > [You can flush my ashes down the toilet, for all I care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-flush-my-ashes-down-the-toilet-for-all-i-care/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-not-all-those-who-wander-are-lost/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't want to have a gravestone. I want to have all my friends burn me and then snort the ashes. I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/i-don-t-want-to-have-a-gravestone-i-want-to-have-all-my-friends-burn/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [He said that he will never let you cry,he will always be there for you no matter how hard the situation is,that he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhra/he-said-that-he-will-never-let-you-cry-he-will-always-be-there-for/) [Zhra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhra/) > [“The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-past-is-to-be-learned-from-but-not-lived-in-we-look-back-to-claim/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/man-is-a-noble-animal-splendid-in-ashes-and-pompous-in-the-grave/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [“Bury us, and mark our names above. Let us be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/bury-us-and-mark-our-names-above-let-us-be-free/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anderson/there-is-nothing-quite-like-an-ashes-trip-down-under/) [James Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anderson/) > [I think momentum is huge in sport, especially in a series like the Ashes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stokes/i-think-momentum-is-huge-in-sport-especially-in-a-series-like-the/) [Ben Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stokes/) > [Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man-yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/mark-how-fleeting-and-paltry-is-the-estate-of-man-yesterday-in-embryo/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“When you burn a bridge, you have to be prepared to live with some ashes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-coppernoll/when-you-burn-a-bridge-you-have-to-be-prepared-to-live-with-some-ashes/) [Chris Coppernoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-coppernoll/) > [I would rather be ashes than dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/i-would-rather-be-ashes-than-dust/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) [Browse all 900 Ashes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I once found a phoenix charred in its own ashes. 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