--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't approve of open fires. You can't…" description: "\"I don't approve of open fires. You can't think, or talk or even make love in front of a fireplace. All you can do is stare at it.\" — Rex Stout" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/rex-stout-2846_can-do_i-don-t-approve-of-open-fires-you-can-t_1338107.png" --- # I don't approve of open fires. You can't think, or talk or… ![“I don't approve of open fires. You can't think, or talk or even make love in front of a fireplace. All you can do is stare at it.” quote by Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/rex-stout-2846_can-do_i-don-t-approve-of-open-fires-you-can-t_1338107.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/rex-stout-2846_can-do_i-don-t-approve-of-open-fires-you-can-t_1338107.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/460/rex-stout-2846_can-do_i-don-t-approve-of-open-fires-you-can-t_1338107.png) > “I don't approve of open fires. You can't think, or talk or even make love in front of a fireplace. All you can do is stare at it.” [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Open flames distract from conversation and intimacy, turning focus to the fire itself rather than interaction. **In simple terms:** Fire draws attention away from talking and intimacy. Key Takeaway Avoid using fire as a focal point for social gatherings. Themes distraction intimacy environment Mood contemplative neutral Type observational descriptive When to use this quote - dinner parties - family gatherings - romantic evenings Key Concepts focus social dynamics attention Questions to Reflect On - How does setting affect your ability to connect? - Can a fireplace ever enhance conversation? A Different Perspective Fire can create a calming ambiance for some, contrary to distraction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Can do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Fireplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fireplace/) [Fireplace Stare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fireplace-stare-3783854/) [Fireplaces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fireplaces/) [Fires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fires/) [Fires Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fires-think-4511310/) [Fronts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fronts/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Making love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-love/) [Open Fires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-fires-4511309/) [Staring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Whenever it gets a little cold in L.A., it gives me an excuse to light my fireplace. You could stare at that joint for,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flying-lotus/whenever-it-gets-a-little-cold-in-l-a-it-gives-me-an-excuse-to-light/) [Flying Lotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flying-lotus/) > [I consider the television set as the American fireplace, around which the whole family will gather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-skelton/i-consider-the-television-set-as-the-american-fireplace-around-which/) [Red Skelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-skelton/) > [I took out a whole fireplace and put in broken glass and installed a burner underneath, so it looks like fire on ice. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-monteith/i-took-out-a-whole-fireplace-and-put-in-broken-glass-and-installed-a/) [Cory Monteith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-monteith/) > [For me, there's nothing better than curling up in my favorite blanket on a cloudy or rainy day and just knit. Especially in front…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magdalena-neuner/for-me-there-s-nothing-better-than-curling-up-in-my-favorite-blanket/) [Magdalena Neuner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magdalena-neuner/) > [The tendency of fire is to go out; watch the fire on the altar of your heart. Anyone who has tended a fireplace fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-booth/the-tendency-of-fire-is-to-go-out-watch-the-fire-on-the-altar-of-your/) [William Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-booth/) > [One afternoon, when I was four years old, my father came home, and he found me in the living room in front of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/one-afternoon-when-i-was-four-years-old-my-father-came-home-and-he/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) > [Poetry is a fireplace in summer or a fan in winter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/poetry-is-a-fireplace-in-summer-or-a-fan-in-winter/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I lingered most about the fireplace, as the most vital part of the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-lingered-most-about-the-fireplace-as-the-most-vital-part-of-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I just like TV. I think to me, it replaced the fireplace when I was a child. They took the fire away and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/i-just-like-tv-i-think-to-me-it-replaced-the-fireplace-when-i-was-a/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [Snowflakes swirl down gently in the deep blue haze beyond the window. The outside world is a dream. Inside, the fireplace is brightly lit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/snowflakes-swirl-down-gently-in-the-deep-blue-haze-beyond-the-window/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Take a nap in a fireplace and you'll sleep like a log.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-degeneres/take-a-nap-in-a-fireplace-and-you-ll-sleep-like-a-log/) [Ellen DeGeneres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-degeneres/) > [I don't want everybody to see exactly where I live, what my sofa or my fireplace looks like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/i-don-t-want-everybody-to-see-exactly-where-i-live-what-my-sofa-or-my/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [A house with no fireplace is a house without a heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gladys-taber/a-house-with-no-fireplace-is-a-house-without-a-heart/) [Gladys Taber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gladys-taber/) > [I don't believe anything can do as much for a room as a glowing fire in an attractive fireplace. Men and dogs love an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-draper/i-don-t-believe-anything-can-do-as-much-for-a-room-as-a-glowing-fire/) [Dorothy Draper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-draper/) > [The home is the empire! There is no peace more delightful than one's own fireplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/the-home-is-the-empire-there-is-no-peace-more-delightful-than-one-s/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) ## More by Rex Stout > [A person who does not read cannot think. He may have good mental processes, but he has nothing to think about. You can feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-person-who-does-not-read-cannot-think-he-may-have-good-mental/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [If I'm home with no chore at hand, and a package of books has come, the television set and the chess board and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/if-i-m-home-with-no-chore-at-hand-and-a-package-of-books-has-come-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [To say that man is a reasoning animal is a very different thing than to say that most of man's decisions are based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-say-that-man-is-a-reasoning-animal-is-a-very-different-thing-than/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says satisfactory, Archie. It's childish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/frankly-i-wish-i-could-make-my-heart-quit-doing-an-extra-thump-when/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What good is an obscenity trial except to popularize literature?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-good-is-an-obscenity-trial-except-to-popularize-literature/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be mistrusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/in-a-world-that-operates-largely-at-random-coincidences-are-to-be/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“everything from war to picnics depends on the weather, as Wolfe remarked”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/everything-from-war-to-picnics-depends-on-the-weather-as-wolfe/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The more you put in your brain, the more it will hold -- if you have one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-more-you-put-in-your-brain-the-more-it-will-hold-if-you-have-one/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“When we turned right on Thirty-fifth Street our suffix came along. By the time we rolled to the curb in front of Wolfe's house…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/when-we-turned-right-on-thirty-fifth-street-our-suffix-came-along-by/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [What the tongue has promised, the body must submit to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/what-the-tongue-has-promised-the-body-must-submit-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [The Glass Key is better than anything Hemingway ever wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/the-glass-key-is-better-than-anything-hemingway-ever-wrote/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [Genius is fine for the ignition spark, but to get there someone has to see that the radiator doesn't leak and no tire is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/genius-is-fine-for-the-ignition-spark-but-to-get-there-someone-has-to/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real. It's real, but in that removed sense.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-dickens-character-to-me-is-a-theatrical-projection-of-a-character/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [“To pronounce French properly you must have within you a deep antipathy, not to say scorn, for some of the most sacred of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/to-pronounce-french-properly-you-must-have-within-you-a-deep/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) > [A man may debar nonsense from his library of reason, but not from the arena of his impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-stout/a-man-may-debar-nonsense-from-his-library-of-reason-but-not-from-the/) [Rex Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) [Explore all 148 Rex Stout quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-stout/) ## More Can do quotes > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [If I had a million dollars, I just wouldn't just completely set back. I'd have to get out there and show my face to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muddy-waters/if-i-had-a-million-dollars-i-just-wouldn-t-just-completely-set-back-i/) [Muddy Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muddy-waters/) > [Anybody can be Prince Charming one day a year, with the dinner and the flowers and all that. But you know what impresses me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-howard/anybody-can-be-prince-charming-one-day-a-year-with-the-dinner-and-the/) [Ryan Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-howard/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [If people don't have their own vision, all they can do is 'sign-up' for someone else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/if-people-don-t-have-their-own-vision-all-they-can-do-is-sign-up-for/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [The one thing that flies in the face of all human history and experience, is that the government can do a superior job than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/the-one-thing-that-flies-in-the-face-of-all-human-history-and/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [...what I can do is offer myself, wholehearted and present, to walk with the people I love through the fear and the mess. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/what-i-can-do-is-offer-myself-wholehearted-and-present-to-walk-with/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' Using your voice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/whether-that-s-speaking-up-in-your-job-or-asking-for-a-promotion-or/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn't feel like it. 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