---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is hell but death is worse. - from…"
description: "\"“Life is hell but death is worse. - from \"No Deposit”\" — Donald Hall"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/donald-hall-10508_death_life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no_1516469.jpg"
---

#  Life is hell but death is worse. - from "No Deposit

![“Life is hell but death is worse. - from &quot;No Deposit” quote by Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/donald-hall-10508_death_life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no_1516469.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/donald-hall-10508_death_life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no_1516469.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/donald-hall-10508_death_life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no_1516469.jpg)

> ““Life is hell but death is worse. - from "No Deposit””

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Life is painful, but death is an even greater suffering.

**In simple terms:** Life hurts, death hurts more.

Key Takeaway

Accept life’s hardships while seeking meaning.

Themes

suffering existence mortality

Mood

somber contemplative

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- grief
- illness
- aging
- risk taking

Key Concepts

philosophical pessimism human condition

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you find purpose amid pain?
- What comforts you about mortality?

A Different Perspective

Death may also bring peace for some.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-worse-991974/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hell Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell-death-2352453/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-hell/) [Worse Deposit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worse-deposit-5594736/)

## Related quotes

> [Life is hell, Death is heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-monroe/life-is-hell-death-is-heaven/)

[Aaron Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-monroe/)

> [“There was a look in their eyes, sometimes . . . They weren’t dreading the trigger being pulled, even if the gun was already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/there-was-a-look-in-their-eyes-sometimes-they-weren-t-dreading-the/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [How could you not want to draw breath one more day? How could your own life be such a cheap commodity? But then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/how-could-you-not-want-to-draw-breath-one-more-day-how-could-your-own/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [When your existence is hell, death must be heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/when-your-existence-is-hell-death-must-be-heaven/)

[Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/)

> [When your brain and body stop working, it turns into hell. Death is at that point desired. It's the best thing that can happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaspar-noe/when-your-brain-and-body-stop-working-it-turns-into-hell-death-is-at/)

[Gaspar Noe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaspar-noe/)

> [“There is no hell after death to which your God can condemn us. We create our own hell here on earth by making the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-alvtegen/there-is-no-hell-after-death-to-which-your-god-can-condemn-us-we/)

[Karin Alvtegen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-alvtegen/)

> [Often the people most concerned about others going to hell when they die seem less concerned with the hells on earth right now, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/often-the-people-most-concerned-about-others-going-to-hell-when-they/)

[Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/)

> [“Living is hell of a death”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dynamo/living-is-hell-of-a-death/)

[Dynamo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dynamo/)

> [I draw a weekly comic strip called Life in Hell, which is syndicated in about 250 newspapers. That's what I did before The Simpsons,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-groening/i-draw-a-weekly-comic-strip-called-life-in-hell-which-is-syndicated/)

[Matt Groening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-groening/)

> [Just live that life. It doesn't matter whether it is life or hell, life of the hungry ghost, life of the animal, it's okay;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taizan-maezumi/just-live-that-life-it-doesn-t-matter-whether-it-is-life-or-hell-life/)

[Taizan Maezumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taizan-maezumi/)

> [“I’d say the worst part of all this is the feeling of betrayal, but I’m betting the part where they break in here and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-correia/i-d-say-the-worst-part-of-all-this-is-the-feeling-of-betrayal-but-i-m/)

[Larry Correia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-correia/)

> [“There are worse things than suffering and death... it is worse to lose one's self-respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ndor-m-rai/there-are-worse-things-than-suffering-and-death-it-is-worse-to-lose/)

[Sándor Márai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ndor-m-rai/)

> [Death and worse happened on the plains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-mcmurtry/death-and-worse-happened-on-the-plains/)

[Larry McMurtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-mcmurtry/)

> [Fear of death is worse than dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/fear-of-death-is-worse-than-dying/)

[Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/)

> [“Life may suck but death is worse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alane-wilson/life-may-suck-but-death-is-worse/)

[Alane Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alane-wilson/)

## More by Donald Hall

> [“When a long-desired baby is born, what joy! More happiness than we find in sex, more than we take in success, revenge, or wealth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/when-a-long-desired-baby-is-born-what-joy-more-happiness-than-we-find/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [“The tree is burning on the autumn noon That builds each year the leaf and bark again. Though frost will strip it raw and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/the-tree-is-burning-on-the-autumn-noon-that-builds-each-year-the-leaf/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [The greatest kindness would put a bullet in his bright eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/the-greatest-kindness-would-put-a-bullet-in-his-bright-eye/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [I wish you were that birch rising from the clump behind you, and I the gray oak alongside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/i-wish-you-were-that-birch-rising-from-the-clump-behind-you-and-i-the/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [“Death of a part is agony - from "The Red Branch”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/death-of-a-part-is-agony-from-the-red-branch/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [“When I was sixteen I read ten books a week: E.E. Cummings, William Faulkner, Henry James, Hart Crane, John Steinbeck. I thought I progressed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/when-i-was-sixteen-i-read-ten-books-a-week-e-e-cummings-william/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [Baseball, because of its continuity over the space of America and the time of America, is a place where memory gathers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/baseball-because-of-its-continuity-over-the-space-of-america-and-the/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [Sweet death, small son, our instrument Of immortality, Your cries and hungers document Our bodily decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/sweet-death-small-son-our-instrument-of-immortality-your-cries-and/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [For a hundred and fifty years, in the pasture of dead horses, roots of pine trees pushed through the pale curves of your ribs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/for-a-hundred-and-fifty-years-in-the-pasture-of-dead-horses-roots-of/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [The pleasure we feel, reading a poem, is our assurance of its integrity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/the-pleasure-we-feel-reading-a-poem-is-our-assurance-of-its-integrity/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [“As Henry Moore carved or modelled his sculpture every day, he strove to surpass Donatello 4. and failed, but woke the next morning elated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/as-henry-moore-carved-or-modelled-his-sculpture-every-day-he-strove/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [Can build plane... Delivery about three months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/can-build-plane-delivery-about-three-months/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/in-football-they-measure-forty-yard-sprints-nobody-runs-forty-yards/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [I don't know where a poem comes from until after I've lived with it a long time. I've a notion that a poem comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/i-don-t-know-where-a-poem-comes-from-until-after-i-ve-lived-with-it-a/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

> [“I read poems for the pleasure of the mouth. My heart is in my mouth, and the sound of poetry is the way in."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/i-read-poems-for-the-pleasure-of-the-mouth-my-heart-is-in-my-mouth/)

[Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

[Explore all 65 Donald Hall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/)

## More Death quotes

> [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/)

[Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/)

> [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/)

[Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/)

> [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/)

> [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/)

[Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/)

> [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/)

[Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/)

> [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/)

[Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/)

> [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/)

[J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/)

> [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/)

[Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/)

> [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/)

[Alan W. Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-powers/)

> [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/)

[Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/)

> [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/)

[Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/)

> [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/)

[Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/)

> [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/)

[Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/)

[Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Life is hell but death is worse. - from \"No Deposit”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Donald Hall"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no-deposit/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Death"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no-deposit/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/donald-hall-10508_death_life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no_1516469.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/donald-hall-10508_death_life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no_1516469.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c4/donald-hall-10508_death_life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no_1516469.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Life is hell but death is worse. - from \"No Deposit” — Donald Hall",
                "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": "Donald Hall",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Life is hell but death is...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no-deposit/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/life-is-hell-but-death-is-worse-from-no-deposit/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
