--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Dying is a very simple thing. I've looked…" description: "\"Dying is a very simple thing. I've looked at death and really I know. If I should have died it would have been very easy for me. Quite the easiest thin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/ernest-hemingway-83_death_dying-is-a-very-simple-thing-i-ve-looked_422876.jpg" --- # Dying is a very simple thing. I've looked at death and… ![“Dying is a very simple thing. I've looked at death and really I know. If I should have died it would have been very easy for me. Quite the easiest thing I ever did. But the people at home do not realize that. They suffer a thousand times more.” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/ernest-hemingway-83_death_dying-is-a-very-simple-thing-i-ve-looked_422876.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/ernest-hemingway-83_death_dying-is-a-very-simple-thing-i-ve-looked_422876.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee2/ernest-hemingway-83_death_dying-is-a-very-simple-thing-i-ve-looked_422876.jpg) > “Dying is a very simple thing. I've looked at death and really I know. If I should have died it would have been very easy for me. Quite the easiest thing I ever did. But the people at home do not realize that. They suffer a thousand times more.” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Death is portrayed as a simple, almost effortless event for the individual, contrasted with the prolonged suffering of those left behind. **In simple terms:** Death is easy, but grief is hard. Key Takeaway Recognize the impact of loss on survivors. Themes mortality grief perspective Mood somber reflective Type philosophical emotional When to use this quote - personal loss - war trauma - family bereavement - terminal illness Key Concepts existentialism human suffering empathy Questions to Reflect On - How does personal perspective shape views on death? - What can be done to support those grieving? A Different Perspective The view may oversimplify the complexity of dying experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Simple things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple-things/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“Being this handsome. It is not easy, you realize.’ ‘And yet you suffer without complaint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-coben/being-this-handsome-it-is-not-easy-you-realize-and-yet-you-suffer/) [Harlan Coben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-coben/) > [Dying is so simple. A fleeting moment of suffering. In the blink of an eye you are over the threshold, into another world. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shan-sa/dying-is-so-simple-a-fleeting-moment-of-suffering-in-the-blink-of-an/) [Shan Sa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shan-sa/) > [It's not my fault the high street is dying... It's very very simple, the Internet is killing the high street.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-ashley/it-s-not-my-fault-the-high-street-is-dying-it-s-very-very-simple-the/) [Mike Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-ashley/) > [Flight out of the atmosphere is a simple thing to do and should have been available to the public twenty years ago. Ten years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burt-rutan/flight-out-of-the-atmosphere-is-a-simple-thing-to-do-and-should-have/) [Burt Rutan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burt-rutan/) > [I had to deal with death at a really young age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-chriqui/i-had-to-deal-with-death-at-a-really-young-age/) [Emmanuelle Chriqui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-chriqui/) > [Death means a lot of money, honey. Death can really make you look like a star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/death-means-a-lot-of-money-honey-death-can-really-make-you-look-like/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [People have not given children enough credit to understand the idea of death. But I really think they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-keenan-bolger/people-have-not-given-children-enough-credit-to-understand-the-idea/) [Andrew Keenan-Bolger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-keenan-bolger/) > [It's not the normal way to look at things but I experienced death at a really young age and because of that it's been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/it-s-not-the-normal-way-to-look-at-things-but-i-experienced-death-at/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [My grandfather's death was really hard to deal with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-eastham/my-grandfather-s-death-was-really-hard-to-deal-with/) [Casey Eastham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-eastham/) > [A child's death is really of less value than an adult's. I mean, what could you really accomplish in a year? Not much, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/a-child-s-death-is-really-of-less-value-than-an-adult-s-i-mean-what/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [I think the mythology of death really ran away with me when I was very young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-a-obreht/i-think-the-mythology-of-death-really-ran-away-with-me-when-i-was/) [Tea Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-a-obreht/) > [“Everyone here now is going to die. But really no one knows what death is really like. Maybe we just take on another part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-hochberg/everyone-here-now-is-going-to-die-but-really-no-one-knows-what-death/) [Art Hochberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-hochberg/) > [“Death is really the mystery of life, isn't it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/death-is-really-the-mystery-of-life-isn-t-it/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I always think that good writers should be growing up on the brink of death - it really lets them see mortality very clearly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/i-always-think-that-good-writers-should-be-growing-up-on-the-brink-of/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [“The thing with dying, well, with death really, is that there's a difference between being someone who knows they can really die at any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-walton/the-thing-with-dying-well-with-death-really-is-that-there-s-a/) [Jo Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-walton/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## 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. 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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 > [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. 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