--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While I was looking the other way your…" description: "\"While I was looking the other way your fire went out. Left me with cinders to kick into dust, what a waste of the wonder you were\" — Kristin Cashore" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/kristin-cashore-369_dust_while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-f_651441.png" --- # While I was looking the other way your fire went out. Left… ![“While I was looking the other way your fire went out. Left me with cinders to kick into dust, what a waste of the wonder you were” quote by Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/kristin-cashore-369_dust_while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-f_651441.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/kristin-cashore-369_dust_while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-f_651441.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/kristin-cashore-369_dust_while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-f_651441.png) > “While I was looking the other way your fire went out. Left me with cinders to kick into dust, what a waste of the wonder you were” [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When something beautiful is lost, it feels like a waste of its potential, leaving only remnants. **In simple terms:** Loss feels wasteful. Key Takeaway Cherish and protect what you value. Themes loss wonder regret Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - Coping with grief - appreciating art - reflecting on missed opportunities Key Concepts Poetic lament value of beauty impermanence Questions to Reflect On - What wonder have you let slip away? - How can you honor what remains? A Different Perspective Focusing only on loss can obscure remaining possibilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cinders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinders-320374/) [Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) [Dust Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust-waste-5208851/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Kicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kicks/) [Left Cinders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-cinders-1808815/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Waste Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste-wonder-5208850/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [While I was looking the other way your fire went out Left me with cinders to kick into dust What a waste of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-fire-went-out-left-me-with-2/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I knew that I had turned my world back to cinders, sunk my lovely ship with my own stupid, wicked hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-stewart/i-knew-that-i-had-turned-my-world-back-to-cinders-sunk-my-lovely-ship/) [Mary Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-stewart/) > [“Love had meant nothing to him but sawdust and cinders.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/love-had-meant-nothing-to-him-but-sawdust-and-cinders/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The fire which seems out often sleeps beneath the cinders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-fire-which-seems-out-often-sleeps-beneath-the-cinders/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“They came back To widows, To fatherless children, To screams, to sobbing. The men came back As little clay jars Full of sharp cinders.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/they-came-back-to-widows-to-fatherless-children-to-screams-to-sobbing/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [“What about... Cinder?... It's an unassuming name, but also... powerful. Because of where she came from. She survived that fire. She was reborn from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/what-about-cinder-it-s-an-unassuming-name-but-also-powerful-because/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [Desire attained is not desire, But as the cinders of the fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-raleigh/desire-attained-is-not-desire-but-as-the-cinders-of-the-fire/) [Walter Raleigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-raleigh/) > [“Why, after all, did she do these things? Why seek pinnacles and stand drenched in fire? Might it consume her anyhow! Burn her to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/why-after-all-did-she-do-these-things-why-seek-pinnacles-and-stand/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Cinders patter, falling with the snow. We creep infinitesimally northward through the dirty chaos of a world in the process of making itself. Praise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/cinders-patter-falling-with-the-snow-we-creep-infinitesimally/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [The aged are terrible - mere heaps of cinders on the grass from which none can tell how tall the flames once were or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/the-aged-are-terrible-mere-heaps-of-cinders-on-the-grass-from-which/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“My heart has turned black bitumen out of the sadness, but I know it will never burn out. I will never have cinders of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsholofelo-lehaha/my-heart-has-turned-black-bitumen-out-of-the-sadness-but-i-know-it/) [Tsholofelo Lehaha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsholofelo-lehaha/) > [“Cinders, I would've thought you of all people would know better. There are no wicked stepmothers and there are no fairy godmothers, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/cinders-i-would-ve-thought-you-of-all-people-would-know-better-there/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [“Cinders. Embers. Ashes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/cinders-embers-ashes/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [“Now get out of my way, or finish life as a pile of cinders.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-smith/now-get-out-of-my-way-or-finish-life-as-a-pile-of-cinders/) [L.J. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-smith/) > [Hatreds are the cinders of affection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-raleigh/hatreds-are-the-cinders-of-affection/) [Walter Raleigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-raleigh/) ## More by Kristin Cashore > [“Back onto their horses, and shortly thereafter word had come around from the command units that any soldier brawling over any matter relating to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/back-onto-their-horses-and-shortly-thereafter-word-had-come-around/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“The girls clipped and swept, and Katsa’s hair fell away. She thrilled at the unfamiliar chill of air on her neck. And wondered if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/the-girls-clipped-and-swept-and-katsa-s-hair-fell-away-she-thrilled/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“Raffin appeared again, a floor above her, on the balconied passageway that ran past his workrooms. He leaned over the railing and called down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/raffin-appeared-again-a-floor-above-her-on-the-balconied-passageway/) [Kristin cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“When you’re a monster, she thought, you are thanked and praised for not behaving like a monster. She would like to restrain from cruelty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/when-you-re-a-monster-she-thought-you-are-thanked-and-praised-for-not/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“She glanced up at him, and in that moment he pulled his wet shirt over his head. She forced her mind blank. Blank as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/she-glanced-up-at-him-and-in-that-moment-he-pulled-his-wet-shirt-over/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“She had thought she'd already reached her capacity for pain and had no room inside her for more. But she remembered having told Archer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/she-had-thought-she-d-already-reached-her-capacity-for-pain-and-had/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“He thinks it's dangerous for us to leave each other so much freedom and make these vague plans to travel together in the future,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/he-thinks-it-s-dangerous-for-us-to-leave-each-other-so-much-freedom/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [Ideas were growing in all directions and dimensions; they were becoming a sculpture, or a castle. And then everyone left her, to return to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/ideas-were-growing-in-all-directions-and-dimensions-they-were/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [But everyone has some kind of power to hurt people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/but-everyone-has-some-kind-of-power-to-hurt-people/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“Papa?” she said, turning in circles now, spinning to look at each of the entrances. “Do you mean Papa? Where?” He came through an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/papa-she-said-turning-in-circles-now-spinning-to-look-at-each-of-the/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“He decided to mark this new era in his life with a change of his foolish, sentimental name. The people of this land had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/he-decided-to-mark-this-new-era-in-his-life-with-a-change-of-his/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I know you don't want this, Katsa. But I can't help myself. The moment you came barreling into my life I was lost. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/i-know-you-don-t-want-this-katsa-but-i-can-t-help-myself-the-moment/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“Como no te has dado cuenta de que tus ojos me atrapan igual que te ocurre a ti con los míos”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/como-no-te-has-dado-cuenta-de-que-tus-ojos-me-atrapan-igual-que-te/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I've been afraid of being Cansrel,' she said aloud to her reflection. 'But I'm not Cansrel.' At her elbow, Musa said blandly, 'Any one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/i-ve-been-afraid-of-being-cansrel-she-said-aloud-to-her-reflection/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [Find something useful to do with your morning,' she thought to him as she neared her chambers. 'Do something heroic in front of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/find-something-useful-to-do-with-your-morning-she-thought-to-him-as/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) [Explore all 604 Kristin Cashore quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) ## More Dust quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [“Veiled by the dust of its own passing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-rogers/veiled-by-the-dust-of-its-own-passing/) [Cameron Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-rogers/) > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [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/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [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/) > [When a man is not wanted in the village, he is always accused of raising dust even when he falls in a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/when-a-man-is-not-wanted-in-the-village-he-is-always-accused-of/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/gatsby-turned-out-all-right-at-the-end-it-is-what-preyed-on-gatsby/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Passing beauties are only the fugitive reflections of the eternal. All beauty alters and all life melts away; in short, everything passes with marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/passing-beauties-are-only-the-fugitive-reflections-of-the-eternal-all/) [Eliphas Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) [Browse all 1,783 Dust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "While I was looking the other way your fire went out. Left me with cinders to kick into dust, what a waste of the wonder you were", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kristin Cashore" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-fire-went-out-left-me-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dust" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-fire-went-out-left-me-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/kristin-cashore-369_dust_while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-f_651441.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/kristin-cashore-369_dust_while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-f_651441.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f0/kristin-cashore-369_dust_while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-f_651441.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“While I was looking the other way your fire went out. Left me with cinders to kick into dust, what a waste…” — Kristin Cashore", "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": "Kristin Cashore", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "While I was looking the other...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-fire-went-out-left-me-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/while-i-was-looking-the-other-way-your-fire-went-out-left-me-with/#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 } } ] } ```