---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I smoke too much whether it's going well…"
description: "\"I smoke too much whether it's going well or badly. After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just ou..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/tom-stoppard-437_ashtray_i-smoke-too-much-whether-it-s-going-well_1460851.png"
---

#  I smoke too much whether it's going well or badly. After…

![“I smoke too much whether it's going well or badly. After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/tom-stoppard-437_ashtray_i-smoke-too-much-whether-it-s-going-well_1460851.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/tom-stoppard-437_ashtray_i-smoke-too-much-whether-it-s-going-well_1460851.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d66/tom-stoppard-437_ashtray_i-smoke-too-much-whether-it-s-going-well_1460851.png)

> “I smoke too much whether it's going well or badly. After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.”

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

## About This Quote

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

The writer associates smoking with writing, linking the act of holding a pen to having an ashtray nearby, indicating a habitual, perhaps compulsive, creative ritual.

**In simple terms:** Smoking is tied to the writer’s habit of holding a pen.

Key Takeaway

Break the habit linking you write.

Themes

creativity habit addiction

Mood

reflective determined

Type

advice motivational

When to use this quote

- writing sessions
- stress relief
- health management

Key Concepts

ritual compulsion environment

Questions to Reflect On

- Can you write without smoking?
- What alternative ritual could replace it?

A Different Perspective

Habit may hinder creative freedom.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray/) [Ashtray Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtray-just-440097/) [Ashtrays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashtrays/) [Associates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/associates/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Having Ashtray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-ashtray-440096/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Pens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pens/) [Smoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke/) [Smoke Going](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke-going-2750074/) [Too much](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-much/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/)

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> [I smoke wherever there's an ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margrethe-ii-of-denmark/i-smoke-wherever-there-s-an-ashtray/)

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> [After that, whenever I drove past Mangakahia, I would empty my ashtray - and I was a heavy smoker in those days - on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lange/after-that-whenever-i-drove-past-mangakahia-i-would-empty-my-ashtray/)

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> [A rental car is basically an ashtray on wheels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-adams/a-rental-car-is-basically-an-ashtray-on-wheels/)

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> [I simply cannot imagine why anyone would eat something slimy served in an ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beard/i-simply-cannot-imagine-why-anyone-would-eat-something-slimy-served/)

[Henry Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beard/)

> [You can find shame in every house, burning in an ashtray, hanging framed upon a wall, covering a bed. But nobody notices it any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/you-can-find-shame-in-every-house-burning-in-an-ashtray-hanging/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [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/)

> [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/)

> [“All over America today people would be dragging themselves to work, stuck in traffic jams, wreathed in exhaust smoke. I was going for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/all-over-america-today-people-would-be-dragging-themselves-to-work/)

[Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/)

> [Trust your landmark and run through the smoke. It's going to open up eventually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezekiel-elliott/trust-your-landmark-and-run-through-the-smoke-it-s-going-to-open-up/)

[Ezekiel Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezekiel-elliott/)

> [ Writing a play is like smashing that \[glass\] ashtray, filming it in slow motion, and then running the film in reverse, so that the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/writing-a-play-is-like-smashing-that-glass-ashtray-filming-it-in-slow/)

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> [Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rowland/kissing-a-smoker-is-like-licking-an-ashtray/)

[Helen Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rowland/)

> [“all people start to come apart finally and there it is: just empty ashtrays in a room or wisps of hair on a comb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/all-people-start-to-come-apart-finally-and-there-it-is-just-empty/)

[Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/)

> [You know Kim Jong Un, the evil dictator of North Korea? Apparently, a guy in his inner circle used his ashtray while smoking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/you-know-kim-jong-un-the-evil-dictator-of-north-korea-apparently-a/)

[David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/)

## More by Tom Stoppard

> [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/)

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

> [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/)

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

> [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/)

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

> [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/)

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> [For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-me-human-rights-simply-endorse-a-view-of-life-and-a-set-of-moral/)

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

> [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/dying-is-not-romantic-and-death-is-not-a-game-which-will-soon-be-over/)

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

> [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/)

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

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## More Ashtray quotes

> [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/)

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> [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/)

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> [“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/)

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