--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I don't think has been talked about…" description: "\"“What I don't think has been talked about is the fact that in order to be Hell, the people in Hell could never be sure they were really there.”\" — Deni..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac2/denis-johnson-2135_hell_what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about_2934272.png" --- # What I don't think has been talked about is the fact that… ![“What I don't think has been talked about is the fact that in order to be Hell, the people in Hell could never be sure they were really there.” quote by Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac2/denis-johnson-2135_hell_what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about_2934272.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac2/denis-johnson-2135_hell_what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about_2934272.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac2/denis-johnson-2135_hell_what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about_2934272.png) > ““What I don't think has been talked about is the fact that in order to be Hell, the people in Hell could never be sure they were really there.”” [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on existential uncertainty, suggesting that even in a place of ultimate punishment, inhabitants cannot be sure of their reality. **In simple terms:** Even in hell, certainty is elusive. Key Takeaway Question reality and certainty in extreme conditions. Themes existential philosophy uncertainty Mood thoughtful philosophical Type existential reflective When to use this quote - literary analysis - personal reflection - spiritual inquiry Key Concepts theology psychology Questions to Reflect On - What defines reality for you? - How do you cope with uncertainty? A Different Perspective The metaphor may not translate to all belief systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) ## Related quotes > [ “Why did people call it Hell?" I wondered. \[...\] No place was Hell, no place could be Hell. It's the people calling it Hell,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marsden/why-did-people-call-it-hell-i-wondered-no-place-was-hell-no-place/) [John Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marsden/) > [You come out here and say this is an order and that's an order! Hell, I can look at you son and the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/you-come-out-here-and-say-this-is-an-order-and-that-s-an-order-hell-i/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [It is a sad and shocking fact that many religious people are in Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-rice/it-is-a-sad-and-shocking-fact-that-many-religious-people-are-in-hell/) [John R. Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-rice/) > [Christianity supplies a Hell for the people who disagree with you and a Heaven for your friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/christianity-supplies-a-hell-for-the-people-who-disagree-with-you-and/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [“Your old man called me. He wanted you to call home. People in hell want ice water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/your-old-man-called-me-he-wanted-you-to-call-home-people-in-hell-want/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [When I was saying, 'White people go to hell,' I never had trouble finding a publisher. But when I say, 'Black and white unite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amiri-baraka/when-i-was-saying-white-people-go-to-hell-i-never-had-trouble-finding/) [Amiri Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amiri-baraka/) > [Hell isn't other people. Hell is yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/hell-isn-t-other-people-hell-is-yourself/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [“The power that was your father's." He looked at her bewildered face. "To get it, I need to take you away." "Where to?" "A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-elsborg/the-power-that-was-your-father-s-he-looked-at-her-bewildered-face-to/) [barbara elsborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-elsborg/) > [“Tortolita, let me tell you a story,” Estevan said. “This is a South American, wild Indian story about heaven and hell.” Mrs. Parsons made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/tortolita-let-me-tell-you-a-story-estevan-said-this-is-a-south/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-telling-people-to-go-to-hell-in-such-a-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The sinner's prayer has sent more people to Hell than all the bars in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-ravenhill/the-sinner-s-prayer-has-sent-more-people-to-hell-than-all-the-bars-in/) [Leonard Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-ravenhill/) > [First, God does not send people to hell. He simply honors their choice. Hell is the ultimate expression of God's high regard for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/first-god-does-not-send-people-to-hell-he-simply-honors-their-choice/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“If you ask me, people in hell just scream to hear their own voice and to pass time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/if-you-ask-me-people-in-hell-just-scream-to-hear-their-own-voice-and/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [The first joint priority of the churches of any city should be that of making it hard for people to go to hell from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shibley/the-first-joint-priority-of-the-churches-of-any-city-should-be-that/) [David Shibley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shibley/) > [Some people will go through hell with the person they like, if they think heaven is at the end of the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-people-will-go-through-hell-with-the-person-they-like-if-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Denis Johnson > [“You’ve never felt good. Your suffering protects you. Pain is the ransom you have gladly paid not to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/you-ve-never-felt-good-your-suffering-protects-you-pain-is-the-ransom/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“He had laid his head back until his scalp had contacted his spine, that far back, and opened his throat, and a sound rose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/he-had-laid-his-head-back-until-his-scalp-had-contacted-his-spine/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“Everything is arranged," John Robertson told me. Thank God." I forgot to mention that we appear to have one small problem," he said. Okay..."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/everything-is-arranged-john-robertson-told-me-thank-god-i-forgot-to/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [Before this moment I'd lived as a mind. Body, heart, soul, intellect, so we care ourselves into parts. But the whole of us, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/before-this-moment-i-d-lived-as-a-mind-body-heart-soul-intellect-so/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [He got right down in the dark between heartbeats, and rested there. And then he saw that another one wasn't going to come. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/he-got-right-down-in-the-dark-between-heartbeats-and-rested-there-and/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I’d been staying at the Holiday Inn with my girlfriend, honestly the most beautiful woman I’d even known, for three days under a phony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-d-been-staying-at-the-holiday-inn-with-my-girlfriend-honestly-the/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“All of this while I left lifted by a strange new medium, a strange element--I now tell you that I was newly buoyant in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/all-of-this-while-i-left-lifted-by-a-strange-new-medium-a-strange/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“He didn’t know what country he was in, but he was at home in the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/he-didn-t-know-what-country-he-was-in-but-he-was-at-home-in-the/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“There's a dizzying thrill in a philosophy that can only be tested by suicide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/there-s-a-dizzying-thrill-in-a-philosophy-that-can-only-be-tested-by/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I really enjoy writing novels. It's like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-really-enjoy-writing-novels-it-s-like-the-ocean-you-can-just-build/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“Who said it? – probably Confucius – “I can’t beat a sculpture from a stone with a sledgehammer; I can’t free the soul of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/who-said-it-probably-confucius-i-can-t-beat-a-sculpture-from-a-stone/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“A bus came. I climbed aboard and sat on the plastic seat while the things of our city turned in the windows like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/a-bus-came-i-climbed-aboard-and-sat-on-the-plastic-seat-while-the/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [I knew every raindrop by its name.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/i-knew-every-raindrop-by-its-name/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“To find the people who've became truly sane, seek among those who've managed to do without sanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/to-find-the-people-who-ve-became-truly-sane-seek-among-those-who-ve/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“eventually these encounters forced him to acknowledge the reality of fate, and the truth inherent in things of the imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/eventually-these-encounters-forced-him-to-acknowledge-the-reality-of/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) [Explore all 183 Denis Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) ## 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 > [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": "“What I don't think has been talked about is the fact that in order to be Hell, the people in Hell could never be sure they were really there.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Denis Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about-is-the-fact-that-in-order-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hell" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about-is-the-fact-that-in-order-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac2/denis-johnson-2135_hell_what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about_2934272.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac2/denis-johnson-2135_hell_what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about_2934272.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac2/denis-johnson-2135_hell_what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about_2934272.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What I don't think has been talked about is the fact that in order to be Hell, the people in Hell could…” — Denis Johnson", "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": "Denis Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“What I don't think has been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about-is-the-fact-that-in-order-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/what-i-don-t-think-has-been-talked-about-is-the-fact-that-in-order-to/#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 } } ] } ```