--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From the first smouldering taper to the…" description: "\"“From the first smouldering taper to the elegant lanterns whose light reverberated around eighteenth-century courtyards and from the mild radiance of t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/w-g-sebald-2-13661_combustion_from-the-first-smouldering-taper-to-the_2560215.jpg" --- # From the first smouldering taper to the elegant lanterns… ![“From the first smouldering taper to the elegant lanterns whose light reverberated around eighteenth-century courtyards and from the mild radiance of those lanterns to the unearthly glow of the sodium lamps that line the Belgian motorways, it has all been combustion. Combustion is the hidden…” quote by W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/w-g-sebald-2-13661_combustion_from-the-first-smouldering-taper-to-the_2560215.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/w-g-sebald-2-13661_combustion_from-the-first-smouldering-taper-to-the_2560215.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/w-g-sebald-2-13661_combustion_from-the-first-smouldering-taper-to-the_2560215.jpg) > ““From the first smouldering taper to the elegant lanterns whose light reverberated around eighteenth-century courtyards and from the mild radiance of those lanterns to the unearthly glow of the sodium lamps that line the Belgian motorways, it has all been combustion. Combustion is the hidden principle behind every artefact we create. The making of a fish-hook, manufacture of a china cup, or production of a television programme, all depend on the same process of combustion. Like our bodies and like our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to embers.”” [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Combustion, the chemical process of burning, underlies all human-made objects and technologies, linking them to natural life and desire. **In simple terms:** All creations share the hidden fire of combustion. Key Takeaway Recognize the common energy behind tools and desires. Themes technology philosophy nature humanity Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - industrial design - everyday objects - environmental impact - personal ambition Key Concepts combustion energy material culture Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing shared energy change our view of technology? - What responsibilities arise from this hidden principle? A Different Perspective Combustion also produces waste and pollution, challenging sustainability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behind Every](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behind-every/) [Combustion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combustion/) [Combustion Combustion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combustion-combustion-1598199/) [Combustion Hidden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combustion-hidden-1598198/) [Combustion Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combustion-like-1598201/) [Process Combustion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process-combustion-1598200/) ## Related quotes > [Shakespeare doesn't belong to the past. If his material is valid, it is valid now. It's like coal. The only meaningfulness of a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brook/shakespeare-doesn-t-belong-to-the-past-if-his-material-is-valid-it-is/) [Peter Brook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brook/) > [I know that the right kind of leader for the Labour Party is a desiccated calculating machine who must not in any way permit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aneurin-bevan/i-know-that-the-right-kind-of-leader-for-the-labour-party-is-a/) [Aneurin Bevan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aneurin-bevan/) > [What if I am, in some way, only a sophisticated fire that has acquired an ability to regulate its rate of combustion and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/what-if-i-am-in-some-way-only-a-sophisticated-fire-that-has-acquired/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [To many of us now, computers, silicon chips, data processing, cybernetics, and all the other innovations of the dawning high technology age are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/to-many-of-us-now-computers-silicon-chips-data-processing-cybernetics/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Our opposition will never understand the Democratic Party. Our Party is--to the unpracticed eyes of the old Republican Tories--a mysterious contraption that usually seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/our-opposition-will-never-understand-the-democratic-party-our-party/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [Spontaneous combustion of grassroots politics is the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-morris/spontaneous-combustion-of-grassroots-politics-is-the-future/) [Dick Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-morris/) > [Fear is like the steam that fires the combustion engine. You need fear to get a performance going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/fear-is-like-the-steam-that-fires-the-combustion-engine-you-need-fear/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [Possibly the tragedy of the bicycle is that it was invented too close in time to the car. In the historical scheme, pedal power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ballantine/possibly-the-tragedy-of-the-bicycle-is-that-it-was-invented-too-close/) [Richard Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ballantine/) > [...it ought to be possible to establish a coordinated global program to accomplish the strategic goal of completely eliminating the internal combustion engine over,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/it-ought-to-be-possible-to-establish-a-coordinated-global-program-to/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Everybody thinks an automobile needs an engine. Well, an automobile doesn't necessarily need an engine. What we do is shift electric motors into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-mitchell/everybody-thinks-an-automobile-needs-an-engine-well-an-automobile/) [William J. Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-mitchell/) > [“Success is not due to spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/various-attributed-sources/success-is-not-due-to-spontaneous-combustion-you-have-to-set-yourself/) [Various attributed sources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/various-attributed-sources/) > [It's pretty boring, working by yourself. The scene happens in between the two of you, and then you don't know what it's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/it-s-pretty-boring-working-by-yourself-the-scene-happens-in-between/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Fulfilling the four needs in an integrated way is like combining elements in chemistry. When we reach a "critical mass" of integration, we experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/fulfilling-the-four-needs-in-an-integrated-way-is-like-combining/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [Spontaneous combustion IS a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/spontaneous-combustion-is-a-form-of-harm-mr-d-chiron-put-in/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [The vanishing point leads to the missiles of today, which can take us out of this world. It could be that the west's greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/the-vanishing-point-leads-to-the-missiles-of-today-which-can-take-us/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) ## More by W.G. Sebald > [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“...I was just laying aside a Lausanne paper I'd bought in Zurich when my eye was caught by a report that said the remains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/i-was-just-laying-aside-a-lausanne-paper-i-d-bought-in-zurich-when-my/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“Is the destruction not, rather, irrefutable proof that the catastrophes which develop, so to speak, in our hands and seem to break out suddenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/is-the-destruction-not-rather-irrefutable-proof-that-the-catastrophes/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“You adulterate the truth as you write. There isn't any pretense that you try to arrive at the literal truth. And the only consolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/you-adulterate-the-truth-as-you-write-there-isn-t-any-pretense-that/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“In this little booklet, which had belonged to a maternal great-uncle of ... mine, who spent some time working as an office clerk in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/in-this-little-booklet-which-had-belonged-to-a-maternal-great-uncle/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“It is hard, said Mme Landau, when I told her about those railway lessons, in the end it is hard to know what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/it-is-hard-said-mme-landau-when-i-told-her-about-those-railway/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“...I remembered the story Evan the cobbler had told me, about the two headstreams of Dwy Fawr and Dwy Fach which are said to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/i-remembered-the-story-evan-the-cobbler-had-told-me-about-the-two/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“Once I am at leisure, said Salvatore, I take refuge in prose as one might in a boat. All day long I am surrounded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/once-i-am-at-leisure-said-salvatore-i-take-refuge-in-prose-as-one/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“What distinguishes art from such undertaker's business is that life's closeness to death is its theme, not its addiction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/what-distinguishes-art-from-such-undertaker-s-business-is-that-life-s/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“Looking at those gashed bodies, and at the witnesses of the execution, doubled up by grief like snapped reeds, I gradually understood that, beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/looking-at-those-gashed-bodies-and-at-the-witnesses-of-the-execution/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“I have even begun to speak in foreign tongues roaming like a nomad in my own town.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/i-have-even-begun-to-speak-in-foreign-tongues-roaming-like-a-nomad-in/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“From the outset my main concern was with the shape and the self-contained nature of discrete things, the curve of banisters on a staircase,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/from-the-outset-my-main-concern-was-with-the-shape-and-the-self/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“But I have never been able to bring myself to sell anything, except perhaps, at one point, my soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/but-i-have-never-been-able-to-bring-myself-to-sell-anything-except/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“Like our bodies and our desires, the machines we have devised are possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to embers. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/like-our-bodies-and-our-desires-the-machines-we-have-devised-are/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [“I remember to this day how easily I could grasp what he called his tentative ideas when he talked about the architectural style of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/i-remember-to-this-day-how-easily-i-could-grasp-what-he-called-his/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) [Explore all 41 W.G. Sebald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) ## More Combustion quotes > [Shakespeare doesn't belong to the past. If his material is valid, it is valid now. It's like coal. The only meaningfulness of a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brook/shakespeare-doesn-t-belong-to-the-past-if-his-material-is-valid-it-is/) [Peter Brook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brook/) > [Spontaneous combustion IS a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/spontaneous-combustion-is-a-form-of-harm-mr-d-chiron-put-in/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Fulfilling the four needs in an integrated way is like combining elements in chemistry. When we reach a "critical mass" of integration, we experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/fulfilling-the-four-needs-in-an-integrated-way-is-like-combining/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [It's pretty boring, working by yourself. The scene happens in between the two of you, and then you don't know what it's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/it-s-pretty-boring-working-by-yourself-the-scene-happens-in-between/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [“Success is not due to spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/various-attributed-sources/success-is-not-due-to-spontaneous-combustion-you-have-to-set-yourself/) [Various attributed sources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/various-attributed-sources/) > [Everybody thinks an automobile needs an engine. Well, an automobile doesn't necessarily need an engine. What we do is shift electric motors into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-mitchell/everybody-thinks-an-automobile-needs-an-engine-well-an-automobile/) [William J. Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-mitchell/) > [...it ought to be possible to establish a coordinated global program to accomplish the strategic goal of completely eliminating the internal combustion engine over,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/it-ought-to-be-possible-to-establish-a-coordinated-global-program-to/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Possibly the tragedy of the bicycle is that it was invented too close in time to the car. In the historical scheme, pedal power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ballantine/possibly-the-tragedy-of-the-bicycle-is-that-it-was-invented-too-close/) [Richard Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ballantine/) > [Fear is like the steam that fires the combustion engine. You need fear to get a performance going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-weisz/fear-is-like-the-steam-that-fires-the-combustion-engine-you-need-fear/) [Rachel Weisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-weisz/) > [Spontaneous combustion of grassroots politics is the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-morris/spontaneous-combustion-of-grassroots-politics-is-the-future/) [Dick Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-morris/) > [Our opposition will never understand the Democratic Party. Our Party is--to the unpracticed eyes of the old Republican Tories--a mysterious contraption that usually seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/our-opposition-will-never-understand-the-democratic-party-our-party/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [To many of us now, computers, silicon chips, data processing, cybernetics, and all the other innovations of the dawning high technology age are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/to-many-of-us-now-computers-silicon-chips-data-processing-cybernetics/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [What if I am, in some way, only a sophisticated fire that has acquired an ability to regulate its rate of combustion and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/what-if-i-am-in-some-way-only-a-sophisticated-fire-that-has-acquired/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [I know that the right kind of leader for the Labour Party is a desiccated calculating machine who must not in any way permit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aneurin-bevan/i-know-that-the-right-kind-of-leader-for-the-labour-party-is-a/) [Aneurin Bevan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aneurin-bevan/) > [The vanishing point leads to the missiles of today, which can take us out of this world. It could be that the west's greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/the-vanishing-point-leads-to-the-missiles-of-today-which-can-take-us/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) [Browse all 64 Combustion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combustion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“From the first smouldering taper to the elegant lanterns whose light reverberated around eighteenth-century courtyards and from the mild radiance of those lanterns to the unearthly glow of the sodium lamps that line the Belgian motorways, it has all been combustion. Combustion is the hidden principle behind every artefact we create. The making of a fish-hook, manufacture of a china cup, or production of a television programme, all depend on the same process of combustion. 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