--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So this is hell. I'd never have believed…" description: "\"“So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the \"burning marl.\" Old..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/jean-paul-sartre-220_hell_so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed_376920.png" --- # So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember… ![“So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wives' tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is—other people!” quote by Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/jean-paul-sartre-220_hell_so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed_376920.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/jean-paul-sartre-220_hell_so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed_376920.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/jean-paul-sartre-220_hell_so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed_376920.png) > ““So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wives' tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is—other people!”” [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote satirically defines hell as the torment of other people, implying that interpersonal conflict is the ultimate suffering. **In simple terms:** Hell is other people. Key Takeaway Recognize the impact of relationships on well‑being. Themes existentialism human relationships conflict Mood thoughtful philosophical Type existential cautionary When to use this quote - workplace dynamics - family gatherings - social media interactions Key Concepts interpersonal suffering social anxiety Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate difficult relationships? - Can conflict be constructive? A Different Perspective Not all conflict is equally painful; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [“There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is--other people!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-s-no-need-for-red-hot-pokers-hell-is-other-people/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [So that is what hell is. I would never have believed it. You remember: the fire and brimstone, the torture. Ah! the farce. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/so-that-is-what-hell-is-i-would-never-have-believed-it-you-remember/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“TODAY I THINK MY RELATIONSHIP WITH HELL IS OVER. It was hell, the ancient hell. Hell: I believed that if I loved V enough,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/today-i-think-my-relationship-with-hell-is-over-it-was-hell-the/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [I don't know about torture. I have educated myself on many things but on torture I have not known the boundary between what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoweri-museveni/i-don-t-know-about-torture-i-have-educated-myself-on-many-things-but/) [Yoweri Museveni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoweri-museveni/) > [What has gone wrong with the men who are ruling I'd like to know who they think they are fooling They told us that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-weiss/what-has-gone-wrong-with-the-men-who-are-ruling-i-d-like-to-know-who/) [Peter Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-weiss/) > [“And I was told about this torture, that it was the Hell of carnal sins when reasons give way to desire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-alighieri/and-i-was-told-about-this-torture-that-it-was-the-hell-of-carnal-sins/) [Dante Alighieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-alighieri/) > [Hell is for other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/hell-is-for-other-people/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Hell is other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/hell-is-other-people/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [We make our own hell out of the people around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/we-make-our-own-hell-out-of-the-people-around-us/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Hell is other people at breakfast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/hell-is-other-people-at-breakfast/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Christianity supplies a Hell for the people who disagree with you and a Heaven for your friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/christianity-supplies-a-hell-for-the-people-who-disagree-with-you-and/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [“They say that if you are born in Sonira, you won't be jealous of heaven -- and if you are born in Igati, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shon-mehta/they-say-that-if-you-are-born-in-sonira-you-won-t-be-jealous-of/) [Shon Mehta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shon-mehta/) > [“Cry about the simple hell people give other people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/cry-about-the-simple-hell-people-give-other-people-without-even/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [Government should stay the hell out of people's business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/government-should-stay-the-hell-out-of-people-s-business/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [“If Hell is other people... then Purgatory is airports.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-hell-is-other-people-then-purgatory-is-airports/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Jean-Paul Sartre > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“All these creatures spend their time explaining, realizing happily that they agree with each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/all-these-creatures-spend-their-time-explaining-realizing-happily/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“she has suddenly emptied herself of me, and all other consciousness in the world has also emptied itself of me. It seems funny. Yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/she-has-suddenly-emptied-herself-of-me-and-all-other-consciousness-in/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [ \[Stéphane Mallarmé\] theory of the hermetic is a mistake, but he can be only difficult to read when he has difficult things to say. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/st-phane-mallarm-theory-of-the-hermetic-is-a-mistake-but-he-can-be/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I can always choose, but I ought to know that if I do not choose, I am still choosing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-can-always-choose-but-i-ought-to-know-that-if-i-do-not-choose-i-am/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/when-the-rich-wage-war-it-s-the-poor-who-die/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“She smiled. First I lost the memory of her eyes, then the memory of her long body. I kept her smile as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/she-smiled-first-i-lost-the-memory-of-her-eyes-then-the-memory-of-her/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [Life is a useless passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/life-is-a-useless-passion/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The more one is absorbed in fighting evil, the less one is tempted to place the good in question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/the-more-one-is-absorbed-in-fighting-evil-the-less-one-is-tempted-to/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [This is what I thought: for the most banal even to become an adventure, you must (and this is enough) begin to recount it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/this-is-what-i-thought-for-the-most-banal-even-to-become-an-adventure/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I am free: there is absolutely no more reason for living, all the ones I have tried have given way and I can’t imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-am-free-there-is-absolutely-no-more-reason-for-living-all-the-ones/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“If I am not mistaken, if all the signs which have been amassed are precursors of a new overthrow in my life, well then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/if-i-am-not-mistaken-if-all-the-signs-which-have-been-amassed-are/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“I want to leave, go to some place where I will be really in my own niche, where I will fit in. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/i-want-to-leave-go-to-some-place-where-i-will-be-really-in-my-own/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [...Uncalled-for aggression arouses the hatred of the civilian population...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/uncalled-for-aggression-arouses-the-hatred-of-the-civilian-population/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The best work is not what is most difficult for you; it is what you do best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/the-best-work-is-not-what-is-most-difficult-for-you-it-is-what-you-do/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) [Explore all 728 Jean-Paul Sartre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) ## 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": "“So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the \"burning marl.\" Old wives' tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is—other people!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean-Paul Sartre" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed-it-you-remember-all-we-were/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hell" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed-it-you-remember-all-we-were/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/jean-paul-sartre-220_hell_so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed_376920.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/jean-paul-sartre-220_hell_so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed_376920.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d67/jean-paul-sartre-220_hell_so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed_376920.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the…” — Jean-Paul Sartre", "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": "Jean-Paul Sartre", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“So this is hell. I'd never...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed-it-you-remember-all-we-were/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/so-this-is-hell-i-d-never-have-believed-it-you-remember-all-we-were/#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 } } ] } ```