--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only place where you could see life…" description: "\"The only place where you could see life and death, i. e., violent death now that the wars were over, was in the bull ring and I wanted very much to go ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/374/ernest-hemingway-83_bulls_the-only-place-where-you-could-see-life_2792700.jpg" --- # The only place where you could see life and death, i. e… ![“The only place where you could see life and death, i. e., violent death now that the wars were over, was in the bull ring and I wanted very much to go to Spain where I could study it. I was trying to learn to write, commencing with the simplest things, and one of the simplest things of all and the…” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/374/ernest-hemingway-83_bulls_the-only-place-where-you-could-see-life_2792700.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/374/ernest-hemingway-83_bulls_the-only-place-where-you-could-see-life_2792700.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/374/ernest-hemingway-83_bulls_the-only-place-where-you-could-see-life_2792700.jpg) > “The only place where you could see life and death, i. e., violent death now that the wars were over, was in the bull ring and I wanted very much to go to Spain where I could study it. I was trying to learn to write, commencing with the simplest things, and one of the simplest things of all and the most fundamental is violent death.” [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. The narrator seeks to understand death through the visceral spectacle of bullfighting, reflecting on life's fragility. **In simple terms:** Studying violent death reveals life's fragility. Key Takeaway Explore art that confronts mortality. Themes mortality art experience Mood reflective somber Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - bullfighting - literary analysis - psychology of violence - creative writing Key Concepts existentialism cultural observation Questions to Reflect On - Why does confronting death in art matter? - How does cultural context shape our perception of violence? A Different Perspective Romanticizing violence can desensitize audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-death/) [Spain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spain/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) [Violent death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent-death/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I was trying to learn to write, commencing with the simplest things, and one of the simplest things of all and the most fundamental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-was-trying-to-learn-to-write-commencing-with-the-simplest-things/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [And I said to myself that unless you conceive Death to be a violent guerrilla and kidnaper who snatches those you love, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/and-i-said-to-myself-that-unless-you-conceive-death-to-be-a-violent/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [The reaction to death is sometimes as violent as death itself. Shock throws a cautious coolness over your senses, but your stomach still has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lebbon/the-reaction-to-death-is-sometimes-as-violent-as-death-itself-shock/) [Tim Lebbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lebbon/) > [There are the two curses of Spain, the bulls and the priests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-are-the-two-curses-of-spain-the-bulls-and-the-priests/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The bulls are my best friends." I translated to Brett. "You kill your friends?" she asked. "Always," he said in English, and laughed. "So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-bulls-are-my-best-friends-i-translated-to-brett-you-kill-your/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As to Hemingway, I read him for the first time in the early 'forties, something about bells, balls and bulls, and loathed it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-to-hemingway-i-read-him-for-the-first-time-in-the-early-forties/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a trout stream outside that no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/to-me-heaven-would-be-a-big-bull-ring-with-me-holding-two-barrera/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/auto-racing-bull-fighting-and-mountain-climbing-are-the-only-real/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-are-some-things-which-cannot-be-learned-quickly-and-time-which/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Democracies have been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and in general been as short in their lives as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/democracies-have-been-found-incompatible-with-personal-security-or/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [He that dies before sixty, of a cold or consumption, dies, in reality, by a violent death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/he-that-dies-before-sixty-of-a-cold-or-consumption-dies-in-reality-by/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [“Death, especially violent death, will turn the meanest bastard in the world into a nice guy. Why is that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/death-especially-violent-death-will-turn-the-meanest-bastard-in-the/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [I didn't get into comedy to talk about violent death all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wilmore/i-didn-t-get-into-comedy-to-talk-about-violent-death-all-the-time/) [Larry Wilmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wilmore/) > [“Every mode of violent death available to Renaissance man, including a lye pit, land mines, a trained falcon with envenom'd talons, is employed. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-pynchon/every-mode-of-violent-death-available-to-renaissance-man-including-a/) [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) ## 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 Bulls quotes > [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/) [Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/) > [For Christmas one year I bought my son a BB gun. He bought me a t-shirt with a bulls eye on the back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/for-christmas-one-year-i-bought-my-son-a-bb-gun-he-bought-me-a-t/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [As much as I want to stay on the team -- I love Chicago, I love the Bulls -- at the same time, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luol-deng/as-much-as-i-want-to-stay-on-the-team-i-love-chicago-i-love-the-bulls/) [Luol Deng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luol-deng/) > [Cows are a lot smarter across the board than bulls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-haden-church/cows-are-a-lot-smarter-across-the-board-than-bulls/) [Thomas Haden Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-haden-church/) > [And for me the only way to live life is to grab the bull by the horns and call up recording studios and set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-frusciante/and-for-me-the-only-way-to-live-life-is-to-grab-the-bull-by-the-horns/) [John Frusciante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-frusciante/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The troops were occasionally occupied in pursuing scattered bands going north or south, and on three occasions the large camp of Sitting Bull ventured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-a-miles/the-troops-were-occasionally-occupied-in-pursuing-scattered-bands/) [Nelson A. Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-a-miles/) > [No matter what anyone says, dont take their F\*\*king Bulls\*\*t. Coz you're better then them, faster than them and god damn it, YOU'RE MUCH…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-way/no-matter-what-anyone-says-dont-take-their-f-king-bulls-t-coz-you-re/) [Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-way/) > [To isolate mathematics from the practical demands of the sciences is to invite the sterility of a cow shut away from the bulls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pafnuty-chebyshev/to-isolate-mathematics-from-the-practical-demands-of-the-sciences-is/) Pafnuty Chebyshev > [To say, "Well, I write when I really get into it" is a bunch of bull. Put the paper in the typewriter, stare at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/to-say-well-i-write-when-i-really-get-into-it-is-a-bunch-of-bull-put/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [ \[Donald Trump\] is a horrible human being, but he ain't worse than Bull Connor. Fannie Lou loved Bull Connor and beat Bull Connor because… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/donald-trump-is-a-horrible-human-being-but-he-ain-t-worse-than-bull/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Too many people are apt to redeem their profits too quickly. In a huge bull market they wind up with piddling profits, only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-zweig/too-many-people-are-apt-to-redeem-their-profits-too-quickly-in-a-huge/) [Martin Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-zweig/) > [The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce and bloody wars for their possession, lingered last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/the-proud-spirit-of-the-original-owners-of-these-vast-prairies/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [I went to a Bulls game when it was still in Chicago Stadium before they built the United Center.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-gibbs/i-went-to-a-bulls-game-when-it-was-still-in-chicago-stadium-before/) [Freddie Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-gibbs/) > [The idea that all violence in movies is okay simply because it happens is bull. Directors and writers have a responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-taymor/the-idea-that-all-violence-in-movies-is-okay-simply-because-it/) [Julie Taymor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-taymor/) Browse all 480 Bulls quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only place where you could see life and death, i. e., violent death now that the wars were over, was in the bull ring and I wanted very much to go to Spain where I could study it. 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