"I never wanted to set the world on fire. So I never had to burn any bridges behind me"
About this Quote
The second sentence is the quiet sting. "So I never had to burn any bridges behind me" turns the cliché of scorched-earth success into a moral and professional calculus. She’s not claiming purity; she’s claiming longevity. In show business, bridges are people: bandleaders, producers, sponsors, audiences who remember. Shore implies that chasing headline-making greatness often demands collateral damage, and she opted out. The subtext is almost managerial: if you don’t play the game of domination, you don’t need the cleanup crew.
It also reads as a defensive charm - the sort of wry self-effacement that lets a woman in a male-run industry express agency without triggering punishment. Instead of confessing to small dreams, she frames restraint as power: the ability to keep relationships intact, to move through a career without leaving enemies and exes in the rubble. For a mid-century actress and singer whose success depended on public likability, that’s not modesty. It’s brand architecture.
Quote Details
| Topic | Respect |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Shore, Dinah. (n.d.). I never wanted to set the world on fire. So I never had to burn any bridges behind me. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-never-wanted-to-set-the-world-on-fire-so-i-118404/
Chicago Style
Shore, Dinah. "I never wanted to set the world on fire. So I never had to burn any bridges behind me." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-never-wanted-to-set-the-world-on-fire-so-i-118404/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I never wanted to set the world on fire. So I never had to burn any bridges behind me." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-never-wanted-to-set-the-world-on-fire-so-i-118404/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.











