--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here there is no hope, and consequently…" description: "\"Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what you like. Hell, in short, i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/george-bernard-shaw-68_duty_here-there-is-no-hope-and-consequently-n_2605449.png" --- # Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work… ![“Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what you like. Hell, in short, is a place where you have nothing to do but amuse yourself.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/george-bernard-shaw-68_duty_here-there-is-no-hope-and-consequently-n_2605449.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/george-bernard-shaw-68_duty_here-there-is-no-hope-and-consequently-n_2605449.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/george-bernard-shaw-68_duty_here-there-is-no-hope-and-consequently-n_2605449.png) > “Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what you like. Hell, in short, is a place where you have nothing to do but amuse yourself.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker dismisses hope and duty, suggesting hell is idle amusement when purpose is absent. **In simple terms:** Without purpose, existence feels empty. Key Takeaway Seek meaningful purpose beyond idle pleasure. Themes existentialism purpose nihilism leisure Mood thoughtful critical Type dramatic philosophical When to use this quote - daily routine - creative work - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophical absurdity human motivation Questions to Reflect On - What gives your life meaning? - How do you avoid idle self‑indulgence? A Different Perspective Ignoring purpose can lead to despair. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [No hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-hope/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) ## Related quotes > [“Written over the gate here are the words 'Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.' Only think what a relief that is! For what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words-leave-every-hope-behind-ye/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Plato long ago pointed out the importance of being governed by men with sufficient sense of responsibility and comprehension of public duties to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/plato-long-ago-pointed-out-the-importance-of-being-governed-by-men/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I learned that if you want to get somewhere, you just make up your mind and work like hell til you get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-hinton/i-learned-that-if-you-want-to-get-somewhere-you-just-make-up-your/) [S. E. Hinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-hinton/) > [ “\[W\]hat makes earth feel like Hell is our expectation that it should feel like Heaven.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/w-hat-makes-earth-feel-like-hell-is-our-expectation-that-it-should/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“She’s mine, dipshit,” he yelled over his shoulder, wishing like hell that he didn’t like the sound of that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-l-mathewson/she-s-mine-dipshit-he-yelled-over-his-shoulder-wishing-like-hell-that/) [R.L. Mathewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-l-mathewson/) > [What makes earth feel like hell is our expectation that it should feel like heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/what-makes-earth-feel-like-hell-is-our-expectation-that-it-should/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“The road to heaven feels like hell. The road to hell feels like heaven.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genereux-uwabunkonye-philip/the-road-to-heaven-feels-like-hell-the-road-to-hell-feels-like-heaven/) [Genereux Uwabunkonye Philip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genereux-uwabunkonye-philip/) > [He worked like hell in the country so he could live in the city, where he worked like hell so he could live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-marquis/he-worked-like-hell-in-the-country-so-he-could-live-in-the-city-where/) [Don Marquis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-marquis/) > [“Whatever doesn't kill me better run like hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fain-hauk-from-the-league-series/whatever-doesn-t-kill-me-better-run-like-hell/) Fain Hauk from the League Series > [“Run like hell because you always need to. Laugh at everything because it's always funny. Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-12th-doctor/run-like-hell-because-you-always-need-to-laugh-at-everything-because/) The 12th Doctor > [I'm still laughing like hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinedown/i-m-still-laughing-like-hell/) [Shinedown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinedown/) > [“Do we have a plan?' 'We fight like hell.' 'Good plan.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyxandra-harvey/do-we-have-a-plan-we-fight-like-hell-good-plan/) [Alyxandra Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyxandra-harvey/) > [Run like hell and get the agony over with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/run-like-hell-and-get-the-agony-over-with/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I hate u like hell coz u hurt me like hell so fuck off boy!!!! :'(](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaza/i-hate-u-like-hell-coz-u-hurt-me-like-hell-so-fuck-off-boy/) Shaza > [Each and every one of us has a fire that burns inside us and they can try like hell to put out that flame…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-biersack/each-and-every-one-of-us-has-a-fire-that-burns-inside-us-and-they-can/) Andrew Biersack ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Duty quotes > [I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/i-pray-that-wherever-we-are-and-whatever-duties-we-have-in-the/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [Few political debates have been as divisive as the European one. I fought as hard as I could on the Remain side, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-green/few-political-debates-have-been-as-divisive-as-the-european-one-i/) [Damian Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-green/) > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [“Is that what they teach you at the convent? That the gods demand the hearts from our bodies?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lafevers/is-that-what-they-teach-you-at-the-convent-that-the-gods-demand-the/) [Robin LaFevers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lafevers/) > [The less we show our love to a woman, Or please her less, and neglect our duty, The more we trap and ruin her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pushkin/the-less-we-show-our-love-to-a-woman-or-please-her-less-and-neglect/) [Alexander Pushkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pushkin/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“You have a right to be sad, and a duty to move on. Only wins who wipes the tears, gather strength and move forward.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusto-branco/you-have-a-right-to-be-sad-and-a-duty-to-move-on-only-wins-who-wipes/) [Augusto Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusto-branco/) > [Our duty as Christians is always to keep heaven in our eye and earth under our feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/our-duty-as-christians-is-always-to-keep-heaven-in-our-eye-and-earth/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Regardless of how you feel about war and peace those serving military are doing a duty for the rest of us and they're protecting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-cardellini/regardless-of-how-you-feel-about-war-and-peace-those-serving-military/) [Linda Cardellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-cardellini/) > [“Duty is a done deal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/duty-is-a-done-deal/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. What we did during my father's generation was a duty. And it was beautiful because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/politics-you-see-it-depends-on-what-kind-of-politics-what-we-did/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [I do not so much rejoice that God hath made me to be a Queen, as to be a Queen over so thankful a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-do-not-so-much-rejoice-that-god-hath-made-me-to-be-a-queen-as-to-be/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [The whole duty of man is summed up in obedience to God's will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-whole-duty-of-man-is-summed-up-in-obedience-to-god-s-will/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) [Browse all 5,178 Duty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what you like. 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