"I did mostly good things, except light things on fire"
About this Quote
As a musician who came up in a scene built on juvenile provocation and suburban restlessness, Hoppus knows the cultural script: pop-punk sold rebellion with a grin, turning trouble into entertainment and accountability into a bit. Fire is a perfect symbol here. It’s destructive, sure, but it’s also spectacle, warmth, attention - the whole point of a band that learned to make chaos marketable. The joke isn’t just “I’m bad sometimes.” It’s “my version of bad is theatrical,” which makes the audience complicit: you’re laughing, so you’re already forgiving.
The subtext is a neat evasion that still reads as honest. By confessing to something over-the-top, he dodges the more mundane sins that actually haunt adults - pettiness, neglect, selfishness. It’s redemption via exaggeration, a persona-maintenance move that keeps him lovable: mostly good, occasionally flaming, never boring.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Hoppus, Mark. (2026, January 15). I did mostly good things, except light things on fire. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-did-mostly-good-things-except-light-things-on-160978/
Chicago Style
Hoppus, Mark. "I did mostly good things, except light things on fire." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-did-mostly-good-things-except-light-things-on-160978/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I did mostly good things, except light things on fire." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-did-mostly-good-things-except-light-things-on-160978/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.






