--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We were like two moths around a candle, I…" description: "\"“We were like two moths around a candle, I thought, circling closer and closer to the flame, waiting to see whose wings would catch fire first.”\" — Tan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee0/tan-twan-eng-21022_fire_we-were-like-two-moths-around-a-candle-i_2285168.png" --- # We were like two moths around a candle, I thought… ![“We were like two moths around a candle, I thought, circling closer and closer to the flame, waiting to see whose wings would catch fire first.” quote by Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee0/tan-twan-eng-21022_fire_we-were-like-two-moths-around-a-candle-i_2285168.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee0/tan-twan-eng-21022_fire_we-were-like-two-moths-around-a-candle-i_2285168.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee0/tan-twan-eng-21022_fire_we-were-like-two-moths-around-a-candle-i_2285168.png) > ““We were like two moths around a candle, I thought, circling closer and closer to the flame, waiting to see whose wings would catch fire first.”” [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Two people draw dangerously close, testing limits and risking harm for curiosity or desire. **In simple terms:** Close intimacy can be risky. Key Takeaway Beware of getting too close without boundaries. Themes intimacy risk curiosity Mood tense reflective Type literary romantic When to use this quote - relationships - creative collaborations - dangerous experiments Key Concepts psychology human behavior Questions to Reflect On - What boundaries protect intimacy? - When does curiosity become harmful? 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You parry, you step to the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/as-with-all-the-principles-of-aikijutsu-you-do-not-meet-the-force-of/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) > [“The mountains are as I have always remembered them, the first light of the morning melting down their flanks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/the-mountains-are-as-i-have-always-remembered-them-the-first-light-of/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) > [“Time seems to overlap, like the shadows of leave pressing down on other leave, layer upon layer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/time-seems-to-overlap-like-the-shadows-of-leave-pressing-down-on/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) > [“Before me lies a voyage of a million miles, and my memory is the moonlight I will borrow to illuminate my way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/before-me-lies-a-voyage-of-a-million-miles-and-my-memory-is-the/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) > [The palest ink will endure beyond the memories of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/the-palest-ink-will-endure-beyond-the-memories-of-man/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) > [“Some element in the air between us changed, as though a wind that had been blowing gently had come to an abrupt stillness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/some-element-in-the-air-between-us-changed-as-though-a-wind-that-had/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) > [Die while I can still remember who I am, who I used to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/die-while-i-can-still-remember-who-i-am-who-i-used-to-be/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) > [“It is getting dark. In the low mists over the hills, an orange glow broods, as if the trees are on fire. Bats are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tan-twan-eng/it-is-getting-dark-in-the-low-mists-over-the-hills-an-orange-glow/) [Tan Twan Eng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) [Explore all 29 Tan Twan Eng quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tan-twan-eng/) ## More Fire quotes > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. 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For You are a fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/eternal-trinity-mystery-deep-as-the-sea-you-could-give-me-no-greater/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [“Nothing is ever lost nor can be lost; the body aged, sluggish,cold… the embers left from earlier fires shall dully flame again”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/nothing-is-ever-lost-nor-can-be-lost-the-body-aged-sluggish-cold-the/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [Tonight I feel like a prisoner on fire, waiting desperately... denied, sentenced forever more. 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