--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Son, not everbody thinks that life on a…" description: "\"“Son, not everbody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in west Texas is the second best thing to dyin and goin to heaven.”\" — Cormac McCarthy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e62/cormac-mccarthy-181_heaven_son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-c_2654396.jpg" --- # Son, not everbody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in… ![“Son, not everbody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in west Texas is the second best thing to dyin and goin to heaven.” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e62/cormac-mccarthy-181_heaven_son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-c_2654396.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e62/cormac-mccarthy-181_heaven_son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-c_2654396.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e62/cormac-mccarthy-181_heaven_son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-c_2654396.jpg) > ““Son, not everbody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in west Texas is the second best thing to dyin and goin to heaven.”” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life on a Texas ranch is portrayed as a near‑paradise compared to death and heaven. **In simple terms:** Ranch life feels almost heavenly. Key Takeaway Appreciate simple, grounded living. Themes rural life philosophy mortality Mood poetic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - urbanization - career change - relocation Key Concepts existentialism American West Questions to Reflect On - What truly defines a good life? - How does setting shape values? A Different Perspective Romorizes hardship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Second best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-best/) [West texas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/west-texas/) ## Related quotes > [I have a film I want to direct. Gena Rowlands was going to do it with me a long time ago. It's about an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hurt/i-have-a-film-i-want-to-direct-gena-rowlands-was-going-to-do-it-with/) [William Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hurt/) > [“We needed to drive down the road a couple of miles to meet the rest of the cowboys and gather the cattle from there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/we-needed-to-drive-down-the-road-a-couple-of-miles-to-meet-the-rest/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [Now I live in the middle of nowhere on a working cattle ranch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/now-i-live-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-on-a-working-cattle-ranch/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [The truth of the matter is that I live on an isolated cattle ranch in the middle of Oklahoma and that's not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/the-truth-of-the-matter-is-that-i-live-on-an-isolated-cattle-ranch-in/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“He rode out in the dark long before daylight and he rode the sun up and he rode it down again. In the oncoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-rode-out-in-the-dark-long-before-daylight-and-he-rode-the-sun-up/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [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 > [“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'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/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## More Heaven quotes > [Heaven lies around us in our infancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/heaven-lies-around-us-in-our-infancy/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [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/) > [When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [By the time you have no difficulties in your life, you have achieved Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brown/by-the-time-you-have-no-difficulties-in-your-life-you-have-achieved/) [Charles Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brown/) > [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/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/god-is-the-highest-good-of-the-reasonable-creature-and-the-enjoyment/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) [Browse all 9,540 Heaven quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Son, not everbody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in west Texas is the second best thing to dyin and goin to heaven.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cormac McCarthy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-cattle-ranch-in-west-texas-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Heaven" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-cattle-ranch-in-west-texas-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e62/cormac-mccarthy-181_heaven_son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-c_2654396.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e62/cormac-mccarthy-181_heaven_son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-c_2654396.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e62/cormac-mccarthy-181_heaven_son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-c_2654396.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Son, not everbody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in west Texas is the second best thing to dyin and goin…” — Cormac McCarthy", "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": "Cormac McCarthy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Son, not everbody thinks that life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-cattle-ranch-in-west-texas-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/son-not-everbody-thinks-that-life-on-a-cattle-ranch-in-west-texas-is/#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 } } ] } ```