--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She'd grown up believing in hell in an…" description: "\"“She'd grown up believing in hell in an abstract nightmare way; but west Texas had given her something more concrete upon which to dread the afterlife...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/cherie-priest-17918_hell_she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-a_2074421.jpg" --- # She'd grown up believing in hell in an abstract nightmare… ![“She'd grown up believing in hell in an abstract nightmare way; but west Texas had given her something more concrete upon which to dread the afterlife.” quote by Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/cherie-priest-17918_hell_she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-a_2074421.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/cherie-priest-17918_hell_she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-a_2074421.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/cherie-priest-17918_hell_she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-a_2074421.jpg) > ““She'd grown up believing in hell in an abstract nightmare way; but west Texas had given her something more concrete upon which to dread the afterlife.”” [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She transitions from abstract fear of hell to a concrete, localized dread shaped by her environment. **In simple terms:** Her fear becomes specific and tangible. Key Takeaway Recognize how surroundings shape personal fears. Themes fear environment spiritual belief Mood uneasy thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - cultural displacement - spiritual questioning Key Concepts existential dread place‑based identity Questions to Reflect On - How does your environment shape your deepest fears? - Can you transform abstract dread into actionable insight? A Different Perspective Abstract fears can still dominate despite concrete details. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believing Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believing-hell-2907550/) [Dread Afterlife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dread-afterlife-4019955/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hell Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell-abstract-4019956/) [Nightmare Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare-way-4019957/) [Texas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/texas/) [West texas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/west-texas/) ## Related quotes > [Believing in Hell must distort every judgement on this life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/believing-in-hell-must-distort-every-judgement-on-this-life/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [When you let outside noise into your head, you start thinking or believing whatever the hell you read or see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-haskins/when-you-let-outside-noise-into-your-head-you-start-thinking-or/) [Dwayne Haskins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-haskins/) > [Just as many who were brought up to think of God as a bearded old gentleman sitting on a cloud decided that when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-as-many-who-were-brought-up-to-think-of-god-as-a-bearded-old/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I must say as to what I have seen of Texas it is the garden spot of the world. The best land and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davy-crockett/i-must-say-as-to-what-i-have-seen-of-texas-it-is-the-garden-spot-of/) [Davy Crockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davy-crockett/) > [As a child of West Texas, I identify with Hispanic culture every bit as much as I do North American culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-lee-jones/as-a-child-of-west-texas-i-identify-with-hispanic-culture-every-bit/) [Tommy Lee Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-lee-jones/) > [I like my buddies from west Texas. I liked them when I was young; I liked them when I was middle-age; I liked them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-like-my-buddies-from-west-texas-i-liked-them-when-i-was-young-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [My father grew up in West Texas, in Lubbock, and I've got family here, and I grew up a Dallas Cowboy fan all my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-cassel/my-father-grew-up-in-west-texas-in-lubbock-and-i-ve-got-family-here/) [Matt Cassel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-cassel/) > [I went to West Texas and started writing a cycle of Americana poems after the space conjured images that, as a child, I only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalie-handal/i-went-to-west-texas-and-started-writing-a-cycle-of-americana-poems/) [Nathalie Handal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalie-handal/) > [I'm a kid from a small town in West Texas, and I've gotten to travel the world. I got to live all over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-layfield/i-m-a-kid-from-a-small-town-in-west-texas-and-i-ve-gotten-to-travel/) [John Layfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-layfield/) > [I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-was-raised-in-the-west-the-west-of-texas-it-s-pretty-close-to/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [My family lived in West Texas. We went to Houston and Laredo, ended up around Fort Worth - really just made the rounds. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-bingham/my-family-lived-in-west-texas-we-went-to-houston-and-laredo-ended-up/) [Ryan Bingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-bingham/) > [To mistake Midland for the volk heartland is the West Texas equivalent of assuming that Greenwich, Connecticut, is Levittown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/to-mistake-midland-for-the-volk-heartland-is-the-west-texas/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [“Our first real chance at peaceful sleep, at safety, lay out in west Texas, and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-adair/our-first-real-chance-at-peaceful-sleep-at-safety-lay-out-in-west/) [Bobby Adair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-adair/) > [I remember sitting at home in West Texas listening to my 'Songs for a New World' CD over and over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arden/i-remember-sitting-at-home-in-west-texas-listening-to-my-songs-for-a/) [Michael Arden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-arden/) > [People in Midland are real nice folks: I can't prove that with statistics, but I know West Texas, and it's just a fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/people-in-midland-are-real-nice-folks-i-can-t-prove-that-with/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) ## More by Cherie Priest > [Sometimes, everyone is right. Not always and not even usually, but once in a while, everyone is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/sometimes-everyone-is-right-not-always-and-not-even-usually-but-once/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“I don’t see why not,” I all but snapped at him. “His body was experimented upon, and there are records of it. What else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/i-don-t-see-why-not-i-all-but-snapped-at-him-his-body-was/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [I hate meeting new people even new clients who intend to give me money. I try to be pleasant but I'm not very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/i-hate-meeting-new-people-even-new-clients-who-intend-to-give-me/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [Steampunk is what happens when goths discover brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/steampunk-is-what-happens-when-goths-discover-brown/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [You're a smart boy. Or if you're not, you ought to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/you-re-a-smart-boy-or-if-you-re-not-you-ought-to-be/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“The sound came again. There was a whistle to it, and a moan. It was almost a hiss, and it could’ve been a strangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/the-sound-came-again-there-was-a-whistle-to-it-and-a-moan-it-was/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [She was thirty-five, and she did not look a minute younger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/she-was-thirty-five-and-she-did-not-look-a-minute-younger/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“The captain strikes me as a competent officer, and competent officers are never given enough information to work with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/the-captain-strikes-me-as-a-competent-officer-and-competent-officers/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [It's funny what they say about men in uniform - how people think women just can't resist 'em. Fact is, I think we're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/it-s-funny-what-they-say-about-men-in-uniform-how-people-think-women/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“For just this moment, we have the closest thing to an advantage we're likely to get. And if we don't use it, we're gonna…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/for-just-this-moment-we-have-the-closest-thing-to-an-advantage-we-re/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [I gave three quiet cheers for Minnesota. In Seattle a dusty inch of anything white and chilly means the city lapses into full-on panic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/i-gave-three-quiet-cheers-for-minnesota-in-seattle-a-dusty-inch-of/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“He was carrying bulky loot; I could see it under his zipped-up sweater. And when I unzipped it with a one-handed rip, I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/he-was-carrying-bulky-loot-i-could-see-it-under-his-zipped-up-sweater/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“Modern families are complicated things. Siblings, half siblings, stepparents, stepcousins, what have you. You can't pick who you're born to, that's for sure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/modern-families-are-complicated-things-siblings-half-siblings/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“But the other half of my motivation came from farther back in my brain, in the curious part that I inherited. It came from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/but-the-other-half-of-my-motivation-came-from-farther-back-in-my/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) > [“Few witnesses agree, and fewer still were granted a glimpse of the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine. Its course took it under the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/few-witnesses-agree-and-fewer-still-were-granted-a-glimpse-of-the/) [Cherie Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) [Explore all 36 Cherie Priest quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/) ## More Hell quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Some people give you that motivation to work harder simply to get the hell away from wherever they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/some-people-give-you-that-motivation-to-work-harder-simply-to-get-the/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [“God hates Hell. He hates the idea of people going there. He hates it so much that He was willing to take on human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-minton/god-hates-hell-he-hates-the-idea-of-people-going-there-he-hates-it-so/) [Evan Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-minton/) > [“Hell is only loneliness, a place without play for the soul, a place without God. How could there be God in loneliness when God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/hell-is-only-loneliness-a-place-without-play-for-the-soul-a-place/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [Just when I thought that I was gtting better, boy was I wrong.. Things just turned to hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cupecake/just-when-i-thought-that-i-was-gtting-better-boy-was-i-wrong-things/) [Cupecake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cupecake/) > [I believe that on any trip to heaven, there are always detours through hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-finney/i-believe-that-on-any-trip-to-heaven-there-are-always-detours-through/) [Richard Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-finney/) > [Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-platt/every-saved-person-this-side-of-heaven-owes-the-gospel-to-every-lost/) [David Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-platt/) > [I'm what is known as gradually disintegrating. I don't fear the next world, or anything. I don't fear hell, and I don't look forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/i-m-what-is-known-as-gradually-disintegrating-i-don-t-fear-the-next/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [Hey...Hey...What's up?. Nothing much, you? Nothing. K!..What the hell was the point of this communication?...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hey-hey-what-s-up-nothing-much-you-nothing-k-what-the-hell-was-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Except in these latter-day songs, \[Bob\] Dylan is a grizzled old prophet who's already been to hell and back. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/except-in-these-latter-day-songs-bob-dylan-is-a-grizzled-old-prophet/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“ALAS, IF ALL HUMANS WERE WISE AND HAD MORE GOOD WILL THE WORLD WOULD BE A PARADISE NOW IT IS MOSTLY A HELL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/alas-if-all-humans-were-wise-and-had-more-good-will-the-world-would/) [Irvin D. Yalom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvin-d-yalom/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [It is through suppression that hells are formed in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/it-is-through-suppression-that-hells-are-formed-in-us/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) [Browse all 8,212 Hell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She'd grown up believing in hell in an abstract nightmare way; but west Texas had given her something more concrete upon which to dread the afterlife.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cherie Priest" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-abstract-nightmare-way-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hell" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-abstract-nightmare-way-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/cherie-priest-17918_hell_she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-a_2074421.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/cherie-priest-17918_hell_she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-a_2074421.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/cherie-priest-17918_hell_she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-a_2074421.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She'd grown up believing in hell in an abstract nightmare way; but west Texas had given her something more…” — Cherie Priest", "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": "Cherie Priest", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherie-priest/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“She'd grown up believing in hell...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-abstract-nightmare-way-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherie-priest/she-d-grown-up-believing-in-hell-in-an-abstract-nightmare-way-but/#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 } } ] } ```