--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If there is no God, no devil, no heaven…" description: "\"“If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell then therefore there are no rules.”\" — John Steinbeck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-steinbeck-71_quote_if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no_1596008.jpg" --- # If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell then… ![“If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell then therefore there are no rules.” quote by John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-steinbeck-71_quote_if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no_1596008.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-steinbeck-71_quote_if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no_1596008.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-steinbeck-71_quote_if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no_1596008.jpg) > ““If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell then therefore there are no rules.”” [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Without belief in higher powers or afterlife, moral rules lose external justification. **In simple terms:** No belief, no external rules. Key Takeaway Consider personal moral foundations. Themes morality atheism ethics Mood thoughtful philosophical Type existential ethical When to use this quote - ethical debates - personal decision making - lawmaking - social contracts Key Concepts philosophy religion existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What guides your morals without belief? - Can societies function without shared rules? A Different Perspective May ignore innate social norms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) ## Related quotes > [“Dear Die-ary, I've been to heaven and hell...and I still don't know if there is a god or a devil. Still...it's something to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhonen-vasquez/dear-die-ary-i-ve-been-to-heaven-and-hell-and-i-still-don-t-know-if/) [Jhonen Vasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhonen-vasquez/) > [“The hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-van-halen/the-hell-with-the-rules-if-it-sounds-right-then-it-is/) [Eddie Van Halen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-van-halen/) > [To hell with the rules. I'm going for the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-shorter/to-hell-with-the-rules-i-m-going-for-the-unknown/) [Wayne Shorter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-shorter/) > [To hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-van-halen/to-hell-with-the-rules-if-it-sounds-right-then-it-is/) [Eddie Van Halen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-van-halen/) > [Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/hell-there-are-no-rules-here-we-re-trying-to-accomplish-something-2/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Biblically speaking, fear was always used by the clergies to ensure that people would obey the rules that were allegedly bestowed by God upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rev-richard-skaff/biblically-speaking-fear-was-always-used-by-the-clergies-to-ensure/) [Rev Richard Skaff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rev-richard-skaff/) > [“I play out the cards. They say: This is Heaven, this is Hell. It is one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-gulland/i-play-out-the-cards-they-say-this-is-heaven-this-is-hell-it-is-one/) [Sandra Gulland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-gulland/) > [If the Lord should bring a wicked man to heaven, heaven would be hell to him; for he who loves not grace upon earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-love/if-the-lord-should-bring-a-wicked-man-to-heaven-heaven-would-be-hell/) [Christopher Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-love/) > [For Jesus, heaven and hell were present realities. Ways of living we can enter into here and now. He talked very little of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/for-jesus-heaven-and-hell-were-present-realities-ways-of-living-we/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/by-the-skillful-and-sustained-use-of-propaganda-one-can-make-a-people/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [We're in the transition between birth and death. But the one that people often know about is the transition between the moment of death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-re-in-the-transition-between-birth-and-death-but-the-one-that/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [Marriage may be the closest thing to Heaven or Hell any of us will know on this earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-louis-cole/marriage-may-be-the-closest-thing-to-heaven-or-hell-any-of-us-will/) [Edwin Louis Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-louis-cole/) > [There is no God. There's no heaven. There's no hell. There are no angels. When you die, you go in the ground, the worms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/there-is-no-god-there-s-no-heaven-there-s-no-hell-there-are-no-angels/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [“There is no heaven or hell. No matter what you do while you're alive, everybody goes to the same place once you die. Death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tsugumi-ohba/there-is-no-heaven-or-hell-no-matter-what-you-do-while-you-re-alive/) [Tsugumi Ohba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tsugumi-ohba/) > [The self is like a baseball. Throw it back to the divine pitcher who pitched it to you in the first place, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-self-is-like-a-baseball-throw-it-back-to-the-divine-pitcher-who/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) ## More by John Steinbeck > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Prayer never brought in no side-meat. Takes a shoat to bring in pork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/prayer-never-brought-in-no-side-meat-takes-a-shoat-to-bring-in-pork/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“And now submarines are armed with mass murder, our silly, only way of deterring mass murder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-now-submarines-are-armed-with-mass-murder-our-silly-only-way-of/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“I’d think there are degrees of greatness,” Adam said. “I don’t think so,” said Samuel. “That would be like saying there is a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-d-think-there-are-degrees-of-greatness-adam-said-i-don-t-think-so/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing it better and quicker, but he never in his whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-forever-inventing-a-new-way-of-doing-an-old-thing-and-doing-it/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“You come back a changed man. Samuel, you don’t change him. He changes you. I can see the look of him in your face.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/you-come-back-a-changed-man-samuel-you-don-t-change-him-he-changes/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I find out of long experience that I admire all nations and hate all governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-find-out-of-long-experience-that-i-admire-all-nations-and-hate-all/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Who in his mind has not probe the dark water?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/who-in-his-mind-has-not-probe-the-dark-water/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [People like you to be something, preferably what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/people-like-you-to-be-something-preferably-what-they-are/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Suddenly he knew joy and sorrow felted into one fabric. Courage and fear were one thing too. He found that he had started to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/suddenly-he-knew-joy-and-sorrow-felted-into-one-fabric-courage-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I am writing this from what we Americans call Yurrp. In Yurrp writers are taken as seriously as Lana Turner's legs are in America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-am-writing-this-from-what-we-americans-call-yurrp-in-yurrp-writers/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. It is a satisfaction like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-write-because-i-like-to-write-i-find-joy-in-the-texture-and-tone/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Explore all 1,589 John Steinbeck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## More Heaven quotes > [Heaven lies around us in our infancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/heaven-lies-around-us-in-our-infancy/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [A real Christian in an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-christian-in-an-odd-number-anyway-he-feels-supreme-love-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [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/) > [When you have accomplished your goal simply walk away. This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [By the time you have no difficulties in your life, you have achieved Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-brown/by-the-time-you-have-no-difficulties-in-your-life-you-have-achieved/) [Charles Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-brown/) > [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/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/god-is-the-highest-good-of-the-reasonable-creature-and-the-enjoyment/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) [Browse all 9,540 Heaven quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell then therefore there are no rules.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no-hell-then-therefore-there/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Heaven" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no-hell-then-therefore-there/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-steinbeck-71_quote_if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no_1596008.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-steinbeck-71_quote_if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no_1596008.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-steinbeck-71_quote_if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no_1596008.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell then therefore there are no rules.” — John Steinbeck", "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": "John Steinbeck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If there is no God, no...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no-hell-then-therefore-there/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/if-there-is-no-god-no-devil-no-heaven-no-hell-then-therefore-there/#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 } } ] } ```