--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A cigarette is a breathing space. It…" description: "\"A cigarette is a breathing space. It makes a parenthesis. The time of a cigarette is a parenthesis, and if it is shared, you are both in that parenthes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b62/john-berger-1590_breathing_a-cigarette-is-a-breathing-space-it-make_1575169.png" --- # A cigarette is a breathing space. It makes a parenthesis… ![“A cigarette is a breathing space. It makes a parenthesis. The time of a cigarette is a parenthesis, and if it is shared, you are both in that parenthesis. It's like a proscenium arch for a dialogue.” quote by John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b62/john-berger-1590_breathing_a-cigarette-is-a-breathing-space-it-make_1575169.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b62/john-berger-1590_breathing_a-cigarette-is-a-breathing-space-it-make_1575169.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b62/john-berger-1590_breathing_a-cigarette-is-a-breathing-space-it-make_1575169.png) > “A cigarette is a breathing space. It makes a parenthesis. The time of a cigarette is a parenthesis, and if it is shared, you are both in that parenthesis. It's like a proscenium arch for a dialogue.” [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cigarettes create a brief pause that frames conversation, like a stage opening for dialogue. **In simple terms:** Smoking offers a pause that frames talk. Key Takeaway Use pauses to deepen dialogue. Themes communication ritual pause Mood contemplative introspective Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - coffee break - smoking area - meeting interlude - creative brainstorming Key Concepts social interaction shared moments Questions to Reflect On - How can you create a pause without smoking? - What other rituals foster dialogue? A Different Perspective Health risks undermine the benefit of the pause. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breathing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing/) [Breathing space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing-space/) [Cigarette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cigarette/) [Cigarette Breathing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cigarette-breathing-5937510/) [Cigarette Parenthesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cigarette-parenthesis-5937509/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Dialogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue/) [Parenthesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenthesis-965548/) [Shared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shared/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Cigarette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-cigarette-5937511/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) ## Related quotes > [Man these hoes, take your money and I take their virginity. Im high, I split an O in half, now its a parenthesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/man-these-hoes-take-your-money-and-i-take-their-virginity-im-high-i/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [“we are for each other: then laugh, leaning back in my arms for life's not a paragraph and death i think is no parenthesis”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/we-are-for-each-other-then-laugh-leaning-back-in-my-arms-for-life-s/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [A play is a parenthesis that contains all the material you think has to be contained for the action of the play. Where do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/a-play-is-a-parenthesis-that-contains-all-the-material-you-think-has/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [life's not a paragraph And death i think is no parenthesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-s-not-a-paragraph-and-death-i-think-is-no-parenthesis/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The created World is but a small Parenthesis in Eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-browne/the-created-world-is-but-a-small-parenthesis-in-eternity/) [Thomas Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-browne/) > [There's something about a parenthesis in fiction that puts one off, saying, "It's me, moi, jumping in now."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-l-heureux/there-s-something-about-a-parenthesis-in-fiction-that-puts-one-off/) [John L'Heureux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-l-heureux/) > [I have a similar affection for the parenthesis (but I always take most of my parentheses out, so as not to call undue attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/i-have-a-similar-affection-for-the-parenthesis-but-i-always-take-most/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [For me, writing is a parenthesis where I can make sense of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/for-me-writing-is-a-parenthesis-where-i-can-make-sense-of-life/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Parenthesis-proud, bracket-bold, happiest with hyphens, The writers stagger intoxicated by terms, adjective-unsteadied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-brode/parenthesis-proud-bracket-bold-happiest-with-hyphens-the-writers/) [Anthony Brode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-brode/) > [“I privately say to you old friend (unto you, really, I'm afraid), please accept from me this unpretentious bouquet of early-blooming parenthesis: (((( )))).…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-privately-say-to-you-old-friend-unto-you-really-i-m-afraid-please/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [Disease often tells its secrets in a casual parenthesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-trotter/disease-often-tells-its-secrets-in-a-casual-parenthesis/) [Wilfred Trotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-trotter/) > [Semi colon dash parenthesis, text messaging. Thats a side smiley face cause Imma make the best of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xv/semi-colon-dash-parenthesis-text-messaging-thats-a-side-smiley-face/) [XV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xv/) > [“The hardest thing to accept about the passage of time is that the people who mattered most to us are all wrapped up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/the-hardest-thing-to-accept-about-the-passage-of-time-is-that-the/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“...for life's not a paragraph/ and death, i think, is no parenthesis.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/for-life-s-not-a-paragraph-and-death-i-think-is-no-parenthesis/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [“And death i think is no parenthesis.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/and-death-i-think-is-no-parenthesis/) [E. E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) ## More by John Berger > [When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/when-we-read-a-story-we-inhabit-it-the-covers-of-the-book-are-like-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The impulse to paint comes neither from observation nor from the soul (which is probably blind) but from an encounter: the encounter between painter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-impulse-to-paint-comes-neither-from-observation-nor-from-the-soul/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Oil painting did to appearances what capital did to social relations. It reduced everything to the equality of objects. Everything became exchangeable because everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/oil-painting-did-to-appearances-what-capital-did-to-social-relations/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Landscapes can be deceptive. Sometimes a landscape seems to be less a setting for the life of its inhabitants than a curtain behind which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/landscapes-can-be-deceptive-sometimes-a-landscape-seems-to-be-less-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We live in a dominant culture of ceaseless Departure and Progress that has so far lasted two or three centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-live-in-a-dominant-culture-of-ceaseless-departure-and-progress/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [My heart born naked was swaddled in lullabies. Later alone it wore poems for clothes. Like a shirt I carried on my back the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/my-heart-born-naked-was-swaddled-in-lullabies-later-alone-it-wore/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [ There's the artist's intimacy and truthfulness to himself, but an equal intimacy to the Other \[the one drawn\]. Picasso drawings are like that... the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/there-s-the-artist-s-intimacy-and-truthfulness-to-himself-but-an/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Traditional Chinese art looked at the Earth from a Confucian mountain top; Japanese art looked closely around screens; Italian Renaissance art surveyed conquered nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/traditional-chinese-art-looked-at-the-earth-from-a-confucian-mountain/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/never-again-shall-a-single-story-be-told-as-though-it-were-the-only/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [In drawing after drawing, pastel after pastel, painting after painting, the contours of Degas's dancing figures become, at a certain point, darkly insistent, tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/in-drawing-after-drawing-pastel-after-pastel-painting-after-painting/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-never-look-at-just-one-thing-we-are-always-looking-at-the-relation/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We can become anything. That is why injustice is impossible here. There may be the accident of birth, there is no accident of death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-can-become-anything-that-is-why-injustice-is-impossible-here-there/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Capitalism survives by forcing the majority, whom it exploits, to define their own interests as narrowly as possible. This was once achieved by extensive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/capitalism-survives-by-forcing-the-majority-whom-it-exploits-to/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The camera relieves us of the burden of memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-camera-relieves-us-of-the-burden-of-memory/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [“Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/today-we-see-the-art-of-the-past-as-nobody-saw-it-before-we-actually/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) [Explore all 214 John Berger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## More Breathing quotes > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [“As long as we’re breathing, we have a chance to start over and build a stable future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ha-campbell/as-long-as-we-re-breathing-we-have-a-chance-to-start-over-and-build-a/) [Kim Ha Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ha-campbell/) > [People don't think much about breathing. Of all the things we take for granted, breathing has to be number one - even though it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/people-don-t-think-much-about-breathing-of-all-the-things-we-take-for/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [I wish," Jared began, and stopped, breathing in. "Do you remember how you used to believe I wasn't real? Sometimes I wish that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/i-wish-jared-began-and-stopped-breathing-in-do-you-remember-how-you/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [Breathing is give(carbon dioxide) and take(oxygen), such is life, find balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-williams/breathing-is-give-carbon-dioxide-and-take-oxygen-such-is-life-find/) [Marcel Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-williams/) > [I'll probably be writing as long as I'm breathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kris-kristofferson/i-ll-probably-be-writing-as-long-as-i-m-breathing/) [Kris Kristofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kris-kristofferson/) > [For me writing is like breathing. I could not live without breathing and I could not live without writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/for-me-writing-is-like-breathing-i-could-not-live-without-breathing/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I’m in, Cat. I’d never leave you. Especially when you’ve got death breathing down your neck.” “Very funny,” I retorted, since Bones was inches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/i-m-in-cat-i-d-never-leave-you-especially-when-you-ve-got-death/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [Splutter, splutter. Yes - we're off - we're rising. But why start off with an engine like that? But it smooths out now, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/splutter-splutter-yes-we-re-off-we-re-rising-but-why-start-off-with/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [He’d moved toward me again. His hands released mine and moved to my waist, and I noticed I wasn’t the only one breathing heavily.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/he-d-moved-toward-me-again-his-hands-released-mine-and-moved-to-my/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-fleming/my-worry-is-that-opera-will-become-an-historic-art-form-as-opposed-to/) [Renee Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-fleming/) > [I'm really fascinated and you know I've been wondering about that usage of language, various breathing techniques and why in these practices language is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/i-m-really-fascinated-and-you-know-i-ve-been-wondering-about-that/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [I’m exactly right for you, Bella. It would have been effortless for us — comfortable, easy as breathing. I was the natural path your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/i-m-exactly-right-for-you-bella-it-would-have-been-effortless-for-us/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) [Browse all 1,666 Breathing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A cigarette is a breathing space. It makes a parenthesis. The time of a cigarette is a parenthesis, and if it is shared, you are both in that parenthesis. 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