---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My mother, sitting at the kitchen table…"
description: "\"“My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising from her cup entwining with the smoke curling from her cigarette resting on an invariably ch..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/patti-smith-394_ashtray_my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-t_422442.jpg"
---

#  My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising…

![“My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising from her cup entwining with the smoke curling from her cigarette resting on an invariably chipped ashtray.” quote by Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/patti-smith-394_ashtray_my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-t_422442.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/patti-smith-394_ashtray_my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-t_422442.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/patti-smith-394_ashtray_my-mother-sitting-at-the-kitchen-table-t_422442.jpg)

> ““My mother, sitting at the kitchen table, the steam rising from her cup entwining with the smoke curling from her cigarette resting on an invariably chipped ashtray.””

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A vivid scene of domestic routine, blending comfort and vice, highlighting everyday contradictions.

**In simple terms:** A mother’s daily life mixes simple comforts with small vices.

Key Takeaway

Observe the quiet complexities in daily moments.

Themes

family routine contradiction comfort vice

Mood

nostalgic reflective

Type

descriptive poetic

When to use this quote

- morning coffee
- smoking
- family gatherings
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

domesticity ritual social habits

Questions to Reflect On

- How do small habits shape our identity?
- What comforts do you cherish despite their flaws?

A Different Perspective

The scene may romanticize smoking, overlooking health risks.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/) [Chipped Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chipped-ashtray-3742277/) [Kitchen table](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitchen-table/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mother Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-sitting-2319991/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Smoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke/)

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> [“I had a dream about you. You had just died, and I was debating putting your body into either a coffin or a shoebox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-had-a-dream-about-you-you-had-just-died-and-i-was-debating-putting/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/)

[Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/)

> [“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [“Air was filtering out of my two collapsing lungs. Water rose, bubbling to enter, and I would have died of instantaneous pneumonia - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/air-was-filtering-out-of-my-two-collapsing-lungs-water-rose-bubbling/)

[Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/)

> [“If someone burns out your eye I will take your socket and use it for an ashtray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/if-someone-burns-out-your-eye-i-will-take-your-socket-and-use-it-for/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“Me and Mama never did like the smell of cigarettes but after Daddy died, sometimes we would light one up and put it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-morgan-denkers/me-and-mama-never-did-like-the-smell-of-cigarettes-but-after-daddy/)

[Sandi Morgan Denkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-morgan-denkers/)

> [“She reached into an alabaster box and pulled out a violet cigarette that also exactly matched her eyes. Some people just don't know when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-k-wolf/she-reached-into-an-alabaster-box-and-pulled-out-a-violet-cigarette/)

[Gary K. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-k-wolf/)

> [“Six pull-tabs lay in the ashtray like scales from a mermaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/six-pull-tabs-lay-in-the-ashtray-like-scales-from-a-mermaid/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/i-think-an-ashtray-is-the-most-fantastically-real-thing/)

[Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/)

> [If we found an ashtray in the studio, we'd try to play it and find a part for it in a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dusty-hill/if-we-found-an-ashtray-in-the-studio-we-d-try-to-play-it-and-find-a/)

[Dusty Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dusty-hill/)

> [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

## More by Patti Smith

> [I had a really happy childhood - my siblings were great, my mother was very fanciful, and I loved to read. But there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-had-a-really-happy-childhood-my-siblings-were-great-my-mother-was/)

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> [As a citizen, hopefully I'm humanist. As an artist, I'm free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/as-a-citizen-hopefully-i-m-humanist-as-an-artist-i-m-free/)

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

> [ Sometimes \[people\] seem to think I came out of the womb, you know, cursing, with an electric guitar. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/sometimes-people-seem-to-think-i-came-out-of-the-womb-you-know/)

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

> [“Inside it he inscribed a few lines of poetry, portraying us as the gypsy and the fool, one creating silence; one listening closely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/inside-it-he-inscribed-a-few-lines-of-poetry-portraying-us-as-the/)

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

> [Who can know the heart of youth but youth itself?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/who-can-know-the-heart-of-youth-but-youth-itself/)

[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

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[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

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[Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

[Explore all 595 Patti Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/)

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> [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/)

[Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/)

> [If we found an ashtray in the studio, we'd try to play it and find a part for it in a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dusty-hill/if-we-found-an-ashtray-in-the-studio-we-d-try-to-play-it-and-find-a/)

[Dusty Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dusty-hill/)

> [I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/i-think-an-ashtray-is-the-most-fantastically-real-thing/)

[Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/)

> [“Six pull-tabs lay in the ashtray like scales from a mermaid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/six-pull-tabs-lay-in-the-ashtray-like-scales-from-a-mermaid/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

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[Gary K. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-k-wolf/)

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[Sandi Morgan Denkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-morgan-denkers/)

> [“If someone burns out your eye I will take your socket and use it for an ashtray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/if-someone-burns-out-your-eye-i-will-take-your-socket-and-use-it-for/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

> [“Air was filtering out of my two collapsing lungs. Water rose, bubbling to enter, and I would have died of instantaneous pneumonia - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/air-was-filtering-out-of-my-two-collapsing-lungs-water-rose-bubbling/)

[Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/)

> [“smarting and smoke was hanging thick in the air while the ashtray on Karras’s desk was mounded high with ashes and the twisted butts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-peter-blatty/smarting-and-smoke-was-hanging-thick-in-the-air-while-the-ashtray-on/)

[William Peter Blatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-peter-blatty/)

> [Let's try and create scenes that are about something... About something deeper than this ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-de-maat/let-s-try-and-create-scenes-that-are-about-something-about-something/)

[Martin de Maat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-de-maat/)

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[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/hands-matches-an-ashtray-a-ritual-beautiful-and-bitter/)

[Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/)

> [“in his hand the heavy, rectangular onyx ashtray that had been on the table. Was he out of his mind? He’d crack her skull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-his-hand-the-heavy-rectangular-onyx-ashtray-that-had-been-on-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“...doing the smoker's comedy act: he hunted automatically for an ashtray, didn't find one, tipped his ashes into the palm of his hand,...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-nell-warren/doing-the-smoker-s-comedy-act-he-hunted-automatically-for-an-ashtray/)

[Patricia Nell Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-nell-warren/)

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