--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So what do you want? Does what happens…" description: "\"“So what do you want? Does what happens inside show on the outside? There is such a great fire in one’s soul, and yet nobody ever comes to warm themsel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/vincent-van-gogh-486_chimney_so-what-do-you-want-does-what-happens-in_2548129.jpg" --- # So what do you want? Does what happens inside show on the… ![“So what do you want? Does what happens inside show on the outside? There is such a great fire in one’s soul, and yet nobody ever comes to warm themselves there, and passersby see nothing but a little smoke coming from the top of the chimney, and go on their way.” quote by Vincent van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/vincent-van-gogh-486_chimney_so-what-do-you-want-does-what-happens-in_2548129.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/vincent-van-gogh-486_chimney_so-what-do-you-want-does-what-happens-in_2548129.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/015/vincent-van-gogh-486_chimney_so-what-do-you-want-does-what-happens-in_2548129.jpg) > ““So what do you want? Does what happens inside show on the outside? There is such a great fire in one’s soul, and yet nobody ever comes to warm themselves there, and passersby see nothing but a little smoke coming from the top of the chimney, and go on their way.”” [Vincent van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Inner passion often remains hidden, showing only faint signs outwardly, while others miss its depth. **In simple terms:** Great inner fire is often unseen. Key Takeaway Seek ways to express inner fire. Themes self‑expression inner life misunderstanding Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal relationships - mental health - self‑discovery Key Concepts psychology authenticity visibility Questions to Reflect On - How can you reveal your inner fire safely? - What signs do you miss in others? A Different Perspective People may misinterpret subtle signals, leading to isolation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chimney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimney/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Inner world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-world/) [Otherness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/otherness/) [Separateness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/separateness/) ## Related quotes > [Authors want their names down in history; I want to keep the smoke coming out of the chimney.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-spillane/authors-want-their-names-down-in-history-i-want-to-keep-the-smoke/) [Mickey Spillane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-spillane/) > [I'm not an author, I'm a writer, that's all I am. Authors want their names down in history; I want to keep the smoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-spillane/i-m-not-an-author-i-m-a-writer-that-s-all-i-am-authors-want-their/) [Mickey Spillane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-spillane/) > [Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/someone-has-a-great-fire-in-his-soul-and-nobody-ever-comes-to-warm/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [We came back right over the World Trade Center and could see, even from that altitude, the devastation, the smoke that was coming up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-shelton/we-came-back-right-over-the-world-trade-center-and-could-see-even/) [Hugh Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-shelton/) > [One day, when we were coming back from school, we saw this big cloud of smoke coming up, and all these fire-trucks in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-june/one-day-when-we-were-coming-back-from-school-we-saw-this-big-cloud-of/) [Valerie June](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-june/) > [“little smoke couldn't be noticed now, so we would take some fish off of the lines and cook up a hot breakfast. And afterwards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/little-smoke-couldn-t-be-noticed-now-so-we-would-take-some-fish-off/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A little smoke lost in the air, that was the life of a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-little-smoke-lost-in-the-air-that-was-the-life-of-a-man/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“Nona I don't think your allowed to smoke in here. Nona exhaled a large cloud of smoke. Nona keeps their lights on. A little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-hood/nona-i-don-t-think-your-allowed-to-smoke-in-here-nona-exhaled-a-large/) [Holly Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-hood/) > [There's no way the new chimney will fall down, Lu. Not with you in charge. It wouldn't dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/there-s-no-way-the-new-chimney-will-fall-down-lu-not-with-you-in/) [Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/) > [A seventeenth-century house can be recognized by its steep roof, massive central chimney and utter porchlessness. Some of those houses have a second-story overhang,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/a-seventeenth-century-house-can-be-recognized-by-its-steep-roof/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“I am a chimney which has been smoked. Out of breath and out of warmth. My air carries murky whispers and inky phantoms. Loneliness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iqra-iqbal/i-am-a-chimney-which-has-been-smoked-out-of-breath-and-out-of-warmth/) [Iqra Iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iqra-iqbal/) > [“The whole concept of some stranger making his way down our chimney - not that we had one - suggested burglary more readily than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/the-whole-concept-of-some-stranger-making-his-way-down-our-chimney/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [I dont have to look to see. Today its all so clear. Chimney tops start to glow and thats when I will disappear...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-elektricity/i-dont-have-to-look-to-see-today-its-all-so-clear-chimney-tops-start/) [London Elektricity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-elektricity/) > [I'd like to start with the chimney jokes - I've got a stack of them. The first one is on the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/i-d-like-to-start-with-the-chimney-jokes-i-ve-got-a-stack-of-them-the/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [Where you thinke there is bacon, there is no Chimney.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/where-you-thinke-there-is-bacon-there-is-no-chimney/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) ## More by Vincent van Gogh > [What am I in most people's eyes? A nonentity or an eccentric and disagreeable man... I should want my work to show what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/what-am-i-in-most-people-s-eyes-a-nonentity-or-an-eccentric-and/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/the-heart-of-man-is-very-much-like-the-sea-it-has-its-storms-it-has/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [“I take great care of myself by carefully shutting myself away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/i-take-great-care-of-myself-by-carefully-shutting-myself-away/) [Vincent van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [There certainly is an affinity between a person and his work, but it is not easy to define what this affinity is, and on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/there-certainly-is-an-affinity-between-a-person-and-his-work-but-it/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [I confess I do not know why, but looking at the stars always makes me dream.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/i-confess-i-do-not-know-why-but-looking-at-the-stars-always-makes-me/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Ah, Manet has come very, very close to it and Courbet - the marrying of form and colour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/ah-manet-has-come-very-very-close-to-it-and-courbet-the-marrying-of/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [We must not judge God from this world. It's just a study that didn't come off. It's only a master who could make such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/we-must-not-judge-god-from-this-world-it-s-just-a-study-that-didn-t/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/our-goals-can-only-be-reached-through-a-vehicle-of-a-plan-in-which-we/) [Vincent van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [One can never study nature too much and too hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/one-can-never-study-nature-too-much-and-too-hard/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [But by fighting the difficulties in which one finds oneself, an inner strength develops from within our heart, which improves in life's fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/but-by-fighting-the-difficulties-in-which-one-finds-oneself-an-inner/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Ah! My dear friend painting is to us what the music of Berlioz and Wagner was before us - a consolatory art for sore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/ah-my-dear-friend-painting-is-to-us-what-the-music-of-berlioz-and/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [Painting demands an intelligent model.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/painting-demands-an-intelligent-model/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [That this awareness of my own fallibility will prevent me from making many mistakes doesn't alter the fact that I'm bound to make a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/that-this-awareness-of-my-own-fallibility-will-prevent-me-from-making/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [What is drawing? It is working oneself through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/what-is-drawing-it-is-working-oneself-through-an-invisible-iron-wall/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [You will say that everyone has seen landscapes and figures from childhood on. The question is: Has everybody also been reflexive as a child?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/you-will-say-that-everyone-has-seen-landscapes-and-figures-from/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) [Explore all 508 Vincent van Gogh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) ## More Chimney quotes > [I'd like to start with the chimney jokes - I've got a stack of them. The first one is on the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/i-d-like-to-start-with-the-chimney-jokes-i-ve-got-a-stack-of-them-the/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [I dont have to look to see. Today its all so clear. Chimney tops start to glow and thats when I will disappear...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/london-elektricity/i-dont-have-to-look-to-see-today-its-all-so-clear-chimney-tops-start/) [London Elektricity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/london-elektricity/) > [“The whole concept of some stranger making his way down our chimney - not that we had one - suggested burglary more readily than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/the-whole-concept-of-some-stranger-making-his-way-down-our-chimney/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [“I am a chimney which has been smoked. Out of breath and out of warmth. My air carries murky whispers and inky phantoms. Loneliness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iqra-iqbal/i-am-a-chimney-which-has-been-smoked-out-of-breath-and-out-of-warmth/) [Iqra Iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iqra-iqbal/) > [A seventeenth-century house can be recognized by its steep roof, massive central chimney and utter porchlessness. Some of those houses have a second-story overhang,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/a-seventeenth-century-house-can-be-recognized-by-its-steep-roof/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [There's no way the new chimney will fall down, Lu. Not with you in charge. It wouldn't dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/there-s-no-way-the-new-chimney-will-fall-down-lu-not-with-you-in/) [Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/) > [Where you thinke there is bacon, there is no Chimney.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/where-you-thinke-there-is-bacon-there-is-no-chimney/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Golden lads and girls all must as chimney sweepers come to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/golden-lads-and-girls-all-must-as-chimney-sweepers-come-to-dust/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Choked Chimney I am a chimney which has been smoked. Out of breath and out of warmth. My air carries murky whispers and inky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iqra-iqbal/choked-chimney-i-am-a-chimney-which-has-been-smoked-out-of-breath-and/) [Iqra Iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iqra-iqbal/) > [One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever come to sit by it. Passersby see only a wisp…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/one-may-have-a-blazing-hearth-in-one-s-soul-and-yet-no-one-ever-come/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [And so there would always be more to remember that could no longer be seen...our history is always returning to a little patch of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/and-so-there-would-always-be-more-to-remember-that-could-no-longer-be/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Almost every labourer has his Sunday suit, very often really good clothes, sometimes glossy black, with the regulation 'chimney pot'. His unfortunate walk betrays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-jefferies/almost-every-labourer-has-his-sunday-suit-very-often-really-good/) [Richard Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-jefferies/) > [We climb up the chimney. We ain't ducking no smoke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ja-morant/we-climb-up-the-chimney-we-ain-t-ducking-no-smoke/) [Ja Morant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ja-morant/) > [Every year, dads will dress up as Santa and try to surprise their kids by coming down the chimney, and every year, a dad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-dunnigan/every-year-dads-will-dress-up-as-santa-and-try-to-surprise-their-kids/) [Kyle Dunnigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-dunnigan/) > [Someone has a great fire in his soul and nobody ever comes to warm themselves at it, and passers-by see nothing but a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/someone-has-a-great-fire-in-his-soul-and-nobody-ever-comes-to-warm/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) [Browse all 38 Chimney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimney/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So what do you want? 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