--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He felt as though his heart were a bomb…" description: "\"He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion, wrecking the world without rocking it.\" — Nathanae..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/nathanael-west-11471_bomb_he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb_128214.jpg" --- # He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated… ![“He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion, wrecking the world without rocking it.” quote by Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/nathanael-west-11471_bomb_he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb_128214.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/nathanael-west-11471_bomb_he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb_128214.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/nathanael-west-11471_bomb_he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb_128214.jpg) > “He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion, wrecking the world without rocking it.” [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A hidden, complex inner turmoil can erupt suddenly, causing massive impact without obvious warning. **In simple terms:** Inner tension can explode. Key Takeaway Beware hidden emotional bombs. Themes psychology emotions inner conflict impact Mood anxious introspective Type philosophical warning When to use this quote - personal crises - creative bursts - relationship breakdowns Key Concepts mental health stress management Practical Applications - address underlying stress - seek emotional support Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate rising tension? - How can you defuse inner conflict? A Different Perspective Not all turmoil leads to disaster. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombs/) [Explosions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explosions/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Kittridge closed his eyes. So, the end. It would happen instantaneously, a painless departure, quicker than thought. he felt the presence of his body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cronin/kittridge-closed-his-eyes-so-the-end-it-would-happen-instantaneously/) [Justin Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cronin/) > [In some places - particularly in Asia and Europe - you often see anti-government graffiti, seditious slogans, banners, leaflets, in certain neighbourhoods. The idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-rossmo/in-some-places-particularly-in-asia-and-europe-you-often-see-anti/) [Kim Rossmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-rossmo/) > [Professional camera crews are rarely there when a bomb goes off or a rocket lands. They usually show up afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/professional-camera-crews-are-rarely-there-when-a-bomb-goes-off-or-a/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) > [Remember the good old days when the only bomb you had to worry about on a plane was the Rob Schneider movie?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/remember-the-good-old-days-when-the-only-bomb-you-had-to-worry-about/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [When I was 18, I went to the Soviet Union. I kept hearing that America was planning to bomb them - lots of bombs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/when-i-was-18-i-went-to-the-soviet-union-i-kept-hearing-that-america/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [I'd been politically active ever since my parents wheeled me in a stroller in a 'ban the bomb' march in Boston in 1963.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/i-d-been-politically-active-ever-since-my-parents-wheeled-me-in-a/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [After Hiroshima was bombed, I saw a photograph of the side of a house with the shadows of the people who had lived there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/after-hiroshima-was-bombed-i-saw-a-photograph-of-the-side-of-a-house/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I like the love-bomb, like, I'm all for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabby-windey/i-like-the-love-bomb-like-i-m-all-for-it/) [Gabby Windey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabby-windey/) > [“Something, which the police called a bomb, had exploded in his shed. Investigations were begun, and the efforts of the authorities were soon to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-von-salomon/something-which-the-police-called-a-bomb-had-exploded-in-his-shed/) Ernst von Salomon > [I don't try to be a sex bomb. I am one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-minogue/i-don-t-try-to-be-a-sex-bomb-i-am-one/) [Kylie Minogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-minogue/) > [My place is in Serbia if the NATO criminals bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-handke/my-place-is-in-serbia-if-the-nato-criminals-bomb/) [Peter Handke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-handke/) > [“when an atomic bomb is detonated above the earth’s atmosphere, it can generate a “pulse wave,” which travels at the speed of light, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-r-forstchen/when-an-atomic-bomb-is-detonated-above-the-earth-s-atmosphere-it-can/) [William R. Forstchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-r-forstchen/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [Being in service and being involved in something that is greater than you is what makes a person complete and whole. The very first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-moreno/being-in-service-and-being-involved-in-something-that-is-greater-than/) [Rita Moreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-moreno/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) ## More by Nathanael West > [“Perhaps I can make you understand. Let’s start from the beginning. A man is hired to give advice to the readers of a newspaper.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/perhaps-i-can-make-you-understand-let-s-start-from-the-beginning-a/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [He read it for the same reason an animal tears at a wounded foot: to hurt the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-read-it-for-the-same-reason-an-animal-tears-at-a-wounded-foot-to/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He Sat in the window thinking. Man has a tropism for order. Keys in one pocket, change in the other. Mandolins are tuned G…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-sat-in-the-window-thinking-man-has-a-tropism-for-order-keys-in-one/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on eath. Love all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/love-a-man-even-in-his-sin-for-that-is-the-semblance-of-divine-love/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Prayers for the condemned man will be offered on an adding machine. Numbers constitute the only universal language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/prayers-for-the-condemned-man-will-be-offered-on-an-adding-machine/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Her sureness was based on the power to limit experience arbitrarily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/her-sureness-was-based-on-the-power-to-limit-experience-arbitrarily/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“But now let us consider the holes in our own bodies and into what these congenital wounds open. Under the skin of man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/but-now-let-us-consider-the-holes-in-our-own-bodies-and-into-what/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [You once said to me that I talk like a man in a book. I not only talk, but think and feel like one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/you-once-said-to-me-that-i-talk-like-a-man-in-a-book-i-not-only-talk/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“Art Is One if Life's Richest Offerings. For those who have not the talent to create, there is appreciation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/art-is-one-if-life-s-richest-offerings-for-those-who-have-not-the/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“He's an escapist. He wants to cultivate his interior garden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-s-an-escapist-he-wants-to-cultivate-his-interior-garden/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“His mouth formed an O with lips torn angry in laying duck's eggs from a chicken's rectum.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/his-mouth-formed-an-o-with-lips-torn-angry-in-laying-duck-s-eggs-from/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [Only those who still have hope can benefit from tears. When they finish, they feel better. But to those without hope, whose anguish is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/only-those-who-still-have-hope-can-benefit-from-tears-when-they/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [At college, and perhaps for a year afterwards, they had believed in literature, had believed in Beauty and in personal expression as an absolute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/at-college-and-perhaps-for-a-year-afterwards-they-had-believed-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“It was very sad under the trees. Although spring was well advanced, in the deep shade there was nothing but death-rotten leaves, gray and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/it-was-very-sad-under-the-trees-although-spring-was-well-advanced-in/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“The way to be gay is to make other people gay," Miss Lonelyhearts said. "Sleep with me and I'll be one gay dog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/the-way-to-be-gay-is-to-make-other-people-gay-miss-lonelyhearts-said/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) [Explore all 58 Nathanael West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) ## More Bomb quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [Being in service and being involved in something that is greater than you is what makes a person complete and whole. The very first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-moreno/being-in-service-and-being-involved-in-something-that-is-greater-than/) [Rita Moreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-moreno/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [“when an atomic bomb is detonated above the earth’s atmosphere, it can generate a “pulse wave,” which travels at the speed of light, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-r-forstchen/when-an-atomic-bomb-is-detonated-above-the-earth-s-atmosphere-it-can/) [William R. Forstchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-r-forstchen/) > [My place is in Serbia if the NATO criminals bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-handke/my-place-is-in-serbia-if-the-nato-criminals-bomb/) [Peter Handke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-handke/) > [I don't try to be a sex bomb. I am one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-minogue/i-don-t-try-to-be-a-sex-bomb-i-am-one/) [Kylie Minogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-minogue/) > [“Something, which the police called a bomb, had exploded in his shed. Investigations were begun, and the efforts of the authorities were soon to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-von-salomon/something-which-the-police-called-a-bomb-had-exploded-in-his-shed/) Ernst von Salomon > [I like the love-bomb, like, I'm all for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabby-windey/i-like-the-love-bomb-like-i-m-all-for-it/) [Gabby Windey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabby-windey/) > [After Hiroshima was bombed, I saw a photograph of the side of a house with the shadows of the people who had lived there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/after-hiroshima-was-bombed-i-saw-a-photograph-of-the-side-of-a-house/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I'd been politically active ever since my parents wheeled me in a stroller in a 'ban the bomb' march in Boston in 1963.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grinspoon/i-d-been-politically-active-ever-since-my-parents-wheeled-me-in-a/) [David Grinspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grinspoon/) > [When I was 18, I went to the Soviet Union. I kept hearing that America was planning to bomb them - lots of bombs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/when-i-was-18-i-went-to-the-soviet-union-i-kept-hearing-that-america/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Remember the good old days when the only bomb you had to worry about on a plane was the Rob Schneider movie?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/remember-the-good-old-days-when-the-only-bomb-you-had-to-worry-about/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Professional camera crews are rarely there when a bomb goes off or a rocket lands. They usually show up afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/professional-camera-crews-are-rarely-there-when-a-bomb-goes-off-or-a/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) > [I think TV is all about caring, and if you don't care about a character in a drama or a person when they get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-winstone/i-think-tv-is-all-about-caring-and-if-you-don-t-care-about-a/) [Ray Winstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-winstone/) > [The car bomb was fertilizer, gasoline, fireworks and propane tanks...still safer than a Toyota.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/the-car-bomb-was-fertilizer-gasoline-fireworks-and-propane-tanks/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) Browse all 320 Bomb quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion, wrecking the world without rocking it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathanael West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb-a-complicated-bomb-that-would/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bomb" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb-a-complicated-bomb-that-would/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/nathanael-west-11471_bomb_he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb_128214.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/nathanael-west-11471_bomb_he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb_128214.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/nathanael-west-11471_bomb_he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb_128214.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He felt as though his heart were a bomb, a complicated bomb that would result in a simple explosion…” — Nathanael 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": "Nathanael West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He felt as though his heart...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb-a-complicated-bomb-that-would/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/he-felt-as-though-his-heart-were-a-bomb-a-complicated-bomb-that-would/#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 } } ] } ```