--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is hell, but at least there are…" description: "\"Life is hell, but at least there are prizes. Or so one thought.\" — Janet Frame" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5eb/janet-frame-8769_hell_life-is-hell-but-at-least-there-are-priz_3113058.jpg" --- # Life is hell, but at least there are prizes. Or so one… ![“Life is hell, but at least there are prizes. Or so one thought.” quote by Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5eb/janet-frame-8769_hell_life-is-hell-but-at-least-there-are-priz_3113058.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5eb/janet-frame-8769_hell_life-is-hell-but-at-least-there-are-priz_3113058.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5eb/janet-frame-8769_hell_life-is-hell-but-at-least-there-are-priz_3113058.jpg) > “Life is hell, but at least there are prizes. Or so one thought.” [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in dire circumstances, there can be unexpected rewards, though they may be imagined or fleeting. **In simple terms:** Hardship can hide hidden rewards. Key Takeaway Look for hope in difficult times. Themes adversity hope illusion Mood melancholic hopeful Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - mental health - creative pursuits - career setbacks Key Concepts resilience perception reward psychology Questions to Reflect On - What small joys sustain you in hardship? - How do you differentiate real progress from wishful thinking? A Different Perspective Rewards may be illusory or temporary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hell Prizes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell-prizes-2060026/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-hell/) [Life is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-is/) [Prize](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prize/) [Prizes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prizes/) [Prizes Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prizes-thought-871720/) ## Related quotes > [“Life is hell, but there are prizes. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/life-is-hell-but-there-are-prizes/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [I hadn't looked at all the Nobel Prizes and thought, my goodness, there's no women. So it was a little bit surprising to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-strickland/i-hadn-t-looked-at-all-the-nobel-prizes-and-thought-my-goodness-there/) [Donna Strickland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-strickland/) > [It's great to win a few prizes early on. It helps a writer to get noticed and to get some sales. It can also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/it-s-great-to-win-a-few-prizes-early-on-it-helps-a-writer-to-get/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Congratulations!! You are the 100th person to view my status. To see your prize please click Control + W.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/congratulations-you-are-the-100th-person-to-view-my-status-to-see/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wouldn't it be wonderful if I won a helicopter in a crossword puzzle competition? There is not much hope though I am afraid, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonora-carrington/wouldn-t-it-be-wonderful-if-i-won-a-helicopter-in-a-crossword-puzzle/) [Leonora Carrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonora-carrington/) > [On the £20,000 Mercedes prizes for each winner at the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart- Anyone good enough to win already has one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-johnson/on-the-20-000-mercedes-prizes-for-each-winner-at-the-world-athletics/) [Michael Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-johnson/) > [You don't want to be ungenerous toward people who give you prizes, but it is never the social or political message that interests me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/you-don-t-want-to-be-ungenerous-toward-people-who-give-you-prizes-but/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I have been very lucky, I have won prizes and I've even won the lottery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erro/i-have-been-very-lucky-i-have-won-prizes-and-i-ve-even-won-the-lottery/) [Erro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erro/) > [I'm not much interested in prizes, whether from the Arab world or from the Western world. Writing is a very difficult process and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-blasim/i-m-not-much-interested-in-prizes-whether-from-the-arab-world-or-from/) [Hassan Blasim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-blasim/) > [Literary prizes serve a purpose if they allow for discussion of books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/literary-prizes-serve-a-purpose-if-they-allow-for-discussion-of-books/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [There are very few institutions that give prizes to people who may not have got to be number one, but are possibly better at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/there-are-very-few-institutions-that-give-prizes-to-people-who-may/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [Life will always remain a gamble, with prizes sometimes for the imprudent, and blanks so often to the wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/life-will-always-remain-a-gamble-with-prizes-sometimes-for-the/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Prizes do not mean anything to me. I think it is more important to make a child aware of the existence of a weird…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hayao-miyazaki/prizes-do-not-mean-anything-to-me-i-think-it-is-more-important-to/) [Hayao Miyazaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hayao-miyazaki/) > [ Maybe it's a little crazy, but it's good to have it, but I just don't like \[prizes or honors\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/maybe-it-s-a-little-crazy-but-it-s-good-to-have-it-but-i-just-don-t/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [The effect of prizes on one's career - if that is what to call it - is considerable, since they give one more clout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/the-effect-of-prizes-on-one-s-career-if-that-is-what-to-call-it-is/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) ## More by Janet Frame > [Very often the law of extremity demands an attention to irrelevance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/very-often-the-law-of-extremity-demands-an-attention-to-irrelevance/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [I must go down to the seas again to find where I buried the hatchet with Yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/i-must-go-down-to-the-seas-again-to-find-where-i-buried-the-hatchet/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [“So I went up north to a land of palm trees and mangroves like malignant growths in the mud-filled throats of the bays, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/so-i-went-up-north-to-a-land-of-palm-trees-and-mangroves-like/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [“A certain pleasure was added to Grace’s relief at establishing herself as a migratory bird. She found that she understood the characters in her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/a-certain-pleasure-was-added-to-grace-s-relief-at-establishing/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [“I have to cry out here that language is all we have for the delicacy and truth of telling, that words are the sole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/i-have-to-cry-out-here-that-language-is-all-we-have-for-the-delicacy/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [The only certainty about writing and trying to be a writer is that it has to be done, not dreamed of or planned and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/the-only-certainty-about-writing-and-trying-to-be-a-writer-is-that-it/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [“Life is hell, but there are prizes. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/life-is-hell-but-there-are-prizes/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [I don't want to inhabit the human world under false pretenses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/i-don-t-want-to-inhabit-the-human-world-under-false-pretenses/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [Listening to her, one experienced a deep uneasiness as of having avoided an urgent responsibility, like someone who, walking at night along the banks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/listening-to-her-one-experienced-a-deep-uneasiness-as-of-having/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [I don't wish to inhabit the human world under false pretences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/i-don-t-wish-to-inhabit-the-human-world-under-false-pretences/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [People dread silence because it is transparent; like clear water, which reveals every obstacle—the used, the dead, the drowned, silence reveals the cast-off words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/people-dread-silence-because-it-is-transparent-like-clear-water-which/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [So we went to bed, assaulted by sleep that fumed at us from medicine glasses, or was wielded from small sweet-coated tablets -- dainty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/so-we-went-to-bed-assaulted-by-sleep-that-fumed-at-us-from-medicine/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [She grew more and more silent about what really mattered. She curled inside herself like one of those black chimney brushes, the little shellfish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/she-grew-more-and-more-silent-about-what-really-mattered-she-curled/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [Conversation is the wall we build between ourselves and other people, too often with tired words like used and broken bottles which, catching the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/conversation-is-the-wall-we-build-between-ourselves-and-other-people/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [But it is imperative, for our own survival, that we avoiid one another, and what more successful means of avoidance are there than words?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/but-it-is-imperative-for-our-own-survival-that-we-avoiid-one-another/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) [Explore all 77 Janet Frame quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Life is hell, but at least there are prizes. 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