--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We cross our bridges when we come to them…" description: "\"We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/tom-stoppard-437_behinds_we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-the_944311.png" --- # We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them… ![“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/tom-stoppard-437_behinds_we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-the_944311.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/tom-stoppard-437_behinds_we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-the_944311.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/tom-stoppard-437_behinds_we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-the_944311.png) > “We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” [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. We often confront challenges only when they appear, then discard them, remembering only the lingering impact. **In simple terms:** We face problems, then forget them, remembering only the trace. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and learn from each obstacle before moving on. Themes change memory reflection Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal growth - career transitions - relationship endings - grieving loss Key Concepts impermanence experience nostalgia Questions to Reflect On - How do you retain lessons from past challenges? - What does the “smoke” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective The metaphor may over‑dramatize everyday setbacks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Bridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridge/) [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Bridges Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges-come-384680/) [Burning bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burning-bridges/) [Cross Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cross-bridges-784498/) [Crosses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crosses/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-smell-1636847/) [Presumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presumption/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) [Smell Smoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-smoke-1584814/) [Smoke Presumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke-presumption-1636848/) [Ur Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ur-eyes/) ## Related quotes > [great men burn bridges before they come to them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/great-men-burn-bridges-before-they-come-to-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Important life skill: cross your bridges before you burn them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/important-life-skill-cross-your-bridges-before-you-burn-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“My first memory is of the smell of sunwarmed earth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-marriott/my-first-memory-is-of-the-smell-of-sunwarmed-earth/) [Zoë Marriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-marriott/) > [“He has to blow across bridges and come back and do it with such infinite feeling soul-exploratory for the tune of the moment that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/he-has-to-blow-across-bridges-and-come-back-and-do-it-with-such/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [The Devil sends the precipices; God sends the bridges! 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Your nature is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/you-may-cross-many-bridges-and-you-may-travel-many-roads-but-you-will/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Her nightmare clung to her like the smell of smoke to cloth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/her-nightmare-clung-to-her-like-the-smell-of-smoke-to-cloth/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) > [I always liked the smell of a smoke-filled room. I think it's a good smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-franz/i-always-liked-the-smell-of-a-smoke-filled-room-i-think-it-s-a-good/) [Dennis Franz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-franz/) > [Has anybody here ever been driving along in their car, smoking a cigarette, and you flick it out the window, and you drive for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-benson/has-anybody-here-ever-been-driving-along-in-their-car-smoking-a/) [Doug Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-benson/) > [“YOU DON'T SMELL FIRE," I yelled. YOU SMELL SMOKE.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/you-don-t-smell-fire-i-yelled-you-smell-smoke/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) ## 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. 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For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-people-there-s-nine-hundred/) [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/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I'm not interested in clothes; I just like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-m-not-interested-in-clothes-i-just-like-them/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For 10 years of my life, 3 times a day, I thanked the Lord for what I was about to receive and thanked him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-10-years-of-my-life-3-times-a-day-i-thanked-the-lord-for-what-i/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [You should not translate for more than two hours at a time. After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/you-should-not-translate-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time-after-that/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/no-matter-how-imperfect-things-are-if-you-ve-got-a-free-press/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-must-be-born-with-an-intuition-of-mortality-before-we-know-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Eternity's a terrible thought. 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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/) > [Time is painted with a lock before, and bald behind, signifying thereby that we must take time by the forelock; for, when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/time-is-painted-with-a-lock-before-and-bald-behind-signifying-thereby/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [God hides Himself behind causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-rollin/god-hides-himself-behind-causes/) [Charles Rollin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-rollin/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Behind every word flows energy. 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Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) [Browse all 6,789 Behinds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Stoppard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-them-and-burn-them-behind-us/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Behinds" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-them-and-burn-them-behind-us/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/tom-stoppard-437_behinds_we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-the_944311.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/tom-stoppard-437_behinds_we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-the_944311.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/tom-stoppard-437_behinds_we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-the_944311.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress…” — Tom Stoppard", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Stoppard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We cross our bridges when we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-them-and-burn-them-behind-us/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-cross-our-bridges-when-we-come-to-them-and-burn-them-behind-us/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```