--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sun was like a huge 50-cent piece…" description: "\"The sun was like a huge 50-cent piece that someone had poured kerosene on and then had lit with a match, and said, \"Here, hold this while I go get a ne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/richard-brautigan-2765_cents_the-sun-was-like-a-huge-50-cent-piece-th_1322470.png" --- # The sun was like a huge 50-cent piece that someone had… ![“The sun was like a huge 50-cent piece that someone had poured kerosene on and then had lit with a match, and said, "Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper," and put the coin in my hand, but never came back.” quote by Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/richard-brautigan-2765_cents_the-sun-was-like-a-huge-50-cent-piece-th_1322470.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/richard-brautigan-2765_cents_the-sun-was-like-a-huge-50-cent-piece-th_1322470.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/819/richard-brautigan-2765_cents_the-sun-was-like-a-huge-50-cent-piece-th_1322470.png) > “The sun was like a huge 50-cent piece that someone had poured kerosene on and then had lit with a match, and said, "Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper," and put the coin in my hand, but never came back.” [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) ## 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, absurd image illustrates fleeting hope and abandonment, highlighting the fragility of trust. **In simple terms:** A bright image shows hope and sudden loss. Key Takeaway Recognize and cherish moments of support. Themes hope abandonment trust fragility absurdity Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - mental health - creative writing - storytelling - emotional resilience Key Concepts imagery symbolism transience Questions to Reflect On - What does the bright image say about reliance? - How do we cope with sudden abandonment? A Different Perspective The metaphor may romanticize loss, ignoring deeper pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cent Piece](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cent-piece-4411573/) [Cents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cents/) [Coin Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coin-hand-2631179/) [Coins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coins/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Huge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/huge/) [Kerosene Lit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kerosene-lit-4411572/) [Lit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lit/) [Newspaper Coin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspaper-coin-4411571/) [Newspapers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newspapers/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Poured Kerosene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poured-kerosene-1837658/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes a piece of sun burned like a coin in my hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/sometimes-a-piece-of-sun-burned-like-a-coin-in-my-hand/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [I burned down my backyard as a seven-year-old. I poured kerosene over dried leaves and set the whole place on fire, just for fun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emraan-hashmi/i-burned-down-my-backyard-as-a-seven-year-old-i-poured-kerosene-over/) [Emraan Hashmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emraan-hashmi/) > [That human existence should repeat itself, well and good, but that it should repeat itself like a hackneyed tune, or a record a drunkard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/that-human-existence-should-repeat-itself-well-and-good-but-that-it/) [Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/) > [Sight is one of the most easily deceived senses. I could make a coin disappear and your eyes would believe it gone, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-chance/sight-is-one-of-the-most-easily-deceived-senses-i-could-make-a-coin/) [Megan Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-chance/) > [Greatness is a two-faced coin - and the reverse is humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-steen/greatness-is-a-two-faced-coin-and-the-reverse-is-humility/) [Marguerite Steen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-steen/) > [No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salmon-p-chase/no-nation-can-be-strong-except-in-the-strength-of-god-or-safe-except/) [Salmon P. Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salmon-p-chase/) > [It's a double-headed coin, because technology is a convenience but it's stifled our attention spans. At one time, albums had songs that were like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cee-lo-green/it-s-a-double-headed-coin-because-technology-is-a-convenience-but-it/) [Cee Lo Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cee-lo-green/) > [I collect dice and I collect coins. I travel the world so I love dice, I always have dice on me. I collect magnets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellan-lutz/i-collect-dice-and-i-collect-coins-i-travel-the-world-so-i-love-dice/) [Kellan Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellan-lutz/) > [Girls are not machines that you put kindness coins into until sex falls out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/girls-are-not-machines-that-you-put-kindness-coins-into-until-sex/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Under the gold standard gold is money and money is gold. It is immaterial whether or not the laws assign legal tender quality only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/under-the-gold-standard-gold-is-money-and-money-is-gold-it-is/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [“Spare a copper for our cause?" the girl with the coin cup asks, her voice weary. "I can spare more than that," I say.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/spare-a-copper-for-our-cause-the-girl-with-the-coin-cup-asks-her/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [Confidentiality and transparency are not mutually exclusive, but rather two sides of the same coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-de-maiziere/confidentiality-and-transparency-are-not-mutually-exclusive-but/) [Thomas de Maiziere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-de-maiziere/) > [The man who confers a favour would rather not be repaid in the same coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-man-who-confers-a-favour-would-rather-not-be-repaid-in-the-same/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Money is made at Christmas out of holly and mistletoe, but who save the vendors would greatly care if no green branch were procurable?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/money-is-made-at-christmas-out-of-holly-and-mistletoe-but-who-save/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [Money doesn't spend in hell… The devil deals in a different coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/money-doesn-t-spend-in-hell-the-devil-deals-in-a-different-coin/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) ## More by Richard Brautigan > [I daydream about a high school where everybody plays the harmonica: the students, the teachers, the principal, the janitor and the cook in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-daydream-about-a-high-school-where-everybody-plays-the-harmonica/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [“The river loved to tell everybody (everybody being the sky, the wind, the few trees that grew around there, birds, deer and even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/the-river-loved-to-tell-everybody-everybody-being-the-sky-the-wind/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [“I guess some people lived like Reader's Digest, but I hadn't met any and at that time it seemed doubtful that I ever would”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-guess-some-people-lived-like-reader-s-digest-but-i-hadn-t-met-any/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [“The Beautiful Poem" I go to bed in Los Angeles thinking about you. 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"I started at midnight. I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/congratulations-i-said-it-s-so-wonderful-to-write-a-book-i-walked-all/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [“My Name “I guess you are kind of curious as to who I am, but I am one of those who do not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/my-name-i-guess-you-are-kind-of-curious-as-to-who-i-am-but-i-am-one/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [I had become so quiet and so small in the grass by the pond that I was barely noticeable, hardly there. I sat there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-had-become-so-quiet-and-so-small-in-the-grass-by-the-pond-that-i/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [“I’m haunted by all the space that I will live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-m-haunted-by-all-the-space-that-i-will-live-without-you/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [Once upon a time there was a dwarf knight who only had fifty words to live in and they were so fleeting that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-dwarf-knight-who-only-had-fifty-words-to/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [“I feel horrible. She doesn't love me and I wander around the house like a sewing machine that's just finished sewing a turd to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-feel-horrible-she-doesn-t-love-me-and-i-wander-around-the-house/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [Like some kind of strange vacuum cleaner I tried to console him. I recited the same old litanies that you say to people when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/like-some-kind-of-strange-vacuum-cleaner-i-tried-to-console-him-i/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [This morning I saw a coyote walking through the sagebrush right at the very edge of the ocean ― next stop China. The coyote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/this-morning-i-saw-a-coyote-walking-through-the-sagebrush-right-at/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [Love Poem ـــــــــ It's so nice to wake up in the morning all alone and not have to tell somebody you love them when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/love-poem-it-s-so-nice-to-wake-up-in-the-morning-all-alone-and-not/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) [Explore all 145 Richard Brautigan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) ## More Cents quotes > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. 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Two people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-french/the-pink-panther-wasn-t-shown-to-the-press-for-reasons-that-soon/) [Philip French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-french/) > [It cost about 75 cents to kill a man in Ceasar's time. The price rose to about $3,000 per man during the Napoleonic wars;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-bone/it-cost-about-75-cents-to-kill-a-man-in-ceasar-s-time-the-price-rose/) [Homer Bone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-bone/) > [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [...that in spite of living in a mansion an American is not above wearing a pair of secondhand pants, bought for fifty cents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhumpa-lahiri/that-in-spite-of-living-in-a-mansion-an-american-is-not-above-wearing/) [Jhumpa Lahiri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhumpa-lahiri/) > [I have earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life I have never obstructed justice,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-nixon/i-have-earned-every-cent-and-in-all-of-my-years-of-public-life-i-have/) [Richard M. 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