--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Written over the gate here are the words…" description: "\"“Written over the gate here are the words 'Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.' Only think what a relief that is! For what is hope? A form of moral ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/george-bernard-shaw-68_hell_written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words_165262.jpg" --- # Written over the gate here are the words 'Leave every hope… ![“Written over the gate here are the words 'Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.' Only think what a relief that is! For what is hope? A form of moral responsibility. 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…” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/george-bernard-shaw-68_hell_written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words_165262.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/george-bernard-shaw-68_hell_written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words_165262.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/george-bernard-shaw-68_hell_written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words_165262.jpg) > ““Written over the gate here are the words 'Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.' Only think what a relief that is! For what is hope? A form of moral responsibility. 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. Shaw suggests that without hope there is no moral duty, work, or purpose, turning existence into idle amusement. **In simple terms:** Without hope, duty and purpose vanish. Key Takeaway Consider the role of hope in motivating action. Themes existential philosophical morality Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - life purpose - ethical decision making - creative work Key Concepts nihilism free will responsibility Questions to Reflect On - Is hope essential for meaning? - Can duty exist without hope? A Different Perspective Hope can inspire positive action despite its paradox. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Moral responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-responsibility/) ## Related quotes > [Here there is no hope, and consequently no duty, no work, nothing to be gained by praying, nothing to be lost by doing what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/here-there-is-no-hope-and-consequently-no-duty-no-work-nothing-to-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“We're all carrying around some shit. When you hear the things people have gone through and realize you've gone through the same, it provides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/we-re-all-carrying-around-some-shit-when-you-hear-the-things-people/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [“But trying to hope is itself a form of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-backhaus/but-trying-to-hope-is-itself-a-form-of-hope/) [Jeff Backhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-backhaus/) > [“For remember, that it is altogether your world now. You and all the rest. We have delivered you from evil, but the evil that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cooper/for-remember-that-it-is-altogether-your-world-now-you-and-all-the/) [Susan Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cooper/) > [It means that through knowledge have come responsibility and hope, and through both, action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-livingston/it-means-that-through-knowledge-have-come-responsibility-and-hope-and/) Edward Livingston > [But, you know, once you're in government, very often you need to shoulder responsibility. I hope the new Spanish government will think about this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-maria-aznar/but-you-know-once-you-re-in-government-very-often-you-need-to/) [Jose Maria Aznar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-maria-aznar/) > [When you take out individual initiative, individual responsibility, and the hope that every individual is born with, to better their lives, to climb the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niger-innis/when-you-take-out-individual-initiative-individual-responsibility-and/) [Niger Innis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niger-innis/) > [“I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you a thirst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mcleod-bethune/i-leave-you-love-i-leave-you-hope-i-leave-you-the-challenge-of-2/) [Mary McLeod Bethune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mcleod-bethune/) > [“Totally without hope one cannot live. To live without hope is to cease to live. Hell is hopelessness. It is no accident that above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/totally-without-hope-one-cannot-live-to-live-without-hope-is-to-cease/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Come on in girls, and leave all hope behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/come-on-in-girls-and-leave-all-hope-behind/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Who enters here must leave all hope behind,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roseanne-montillo/who-enters-here-must-leave-all-hope-behind/) Roseanne Montillo > [I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you respect for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mcleod-bethune/i-leave-you-love-i-leave-you-hope-i-leave-you-the-challenge-of/) [Mary McLeod Bethune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mcleod-bethune/) > [I was there when you cried,i was there when u lied, I was there when tried , I was there when u left and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritesh/i-was-there-when-you-cried-i-was-there-when-u-lied-i-was-there-when/) [Ritesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritesh/) > [Every man to whom salvation is offered has an inalienable natural right to say 'No, thank you: I prefer to retain my full moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-man-to-whom-salvation-is-offered-has-an-inalienable-natural/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“Most people believe the apple merely represented Knowledge. But we know better. It was the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-beverly-whittemore/most-people-believe-the-apple-merely-represented-knowledge-but-we/) [Miranda Beverly-Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-beverly-whittemore/) ## 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 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": "“Written over the gate here are the words 'Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.' Only think what a relief that is! For what is hope? A form of moral responsibility. 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.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words-leave-every-hope-behind-ye/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hell" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words-leave-every-hope-behind-ye/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/george-bernard-shaw-68_hell_written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words_165262.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/george-bernard-shaw-68_hell_written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words_165262.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eba/george-bernard-shaw-68_hell_written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words_165262.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Written over the gate here are the words 'Leave every hope behind, ye who enter.' Only think what a relief…” — George Bernard Shaw", "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": "George Bernard Shaw", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Written over the gate here are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words-leave-every-hope-behind-ye/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/written-over-the-gate-here-are-the-words-leave-every-hope-behind-ye/#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 } } ] } ```