--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If Hell is other people, thought Shadow…" description: "\"“If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is airports.”\" — Neil Gaiman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/neil-gaiman-29_hell-is-other-people_if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-t_1156103.jpg" --- # If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is… ![“If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is airports.” quote by Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/neil-gaiman-29_hell-is-other-people_if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-t_1156103.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/neil-gaiman-29_hell-is-other-people_if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-t_1156103.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/neil-gaiman-29_hell-is-other-people_if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-t_1156103.jpg) > ““If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is airports.”” [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If Hell is other people, then airports are a purgatory of endless waiting and anonymity. **In simple terms:** Airports feel like a limbo of strangers. Key Takeaway Recognize and navigate social limbos with patience. Themes existential social space Mood reflective contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel delays - airport lounges - commuting - social anxiety Key Concepts philosophy urban life psychology Questions to Reflect On - What personal feelings arise in transitional spaces? - How do you turn liminal moments into productive time? A Different Perspective Not everyone experiences airports as oppressive; some find excitement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Hell Is Other People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell-is-other-people/) [Purgatory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purgatory/) ## Related quotes > [“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/) > [“Jean Paul Sartre says that ‘Hell is other people!’ In the name of completing this sentence we must also say this: ‘Heaven is other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/jean-paul-sartre-says-that-hell-is-other-people-in-the-name-of/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“I have always found that hell is other people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/i-have-always-found-that-hell-is-other-people/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [“There is no need for hell fire in hell. Hell is other people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre-2/there-is-no-need-for-hell-fire-in-hell-hell-is-other-people/) [Jean Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre-2/) > [Sartre said that hell is other people, I believe that most of them are](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-morrison/sartre-said-that-hell-is-other-people-i-believe-that-most-of-them-are/) [Van Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-morrison/) > [Jean Paul Sartre says in "No Exit" that hell is other people. Well, our task in life is to make it heaven. 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If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/it-s-true-what-they-say-thought-shadow-if-you-can-fake-sincerity-you/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## More by Neil Gaiman > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Like all sentient beings, Fat Charlie had a weirdness quotient. 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They shine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-do-stars-do-they-shine/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“What," asked Mr Croup, "do you want?" "What," asked the Marquis de Carabas, a little more rhetorically, "does anyone want?" "Dead things," suggested Mr…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-asked-mr-croup-do-you-want-what-asked-the-marquis-de-carabas-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You get on with your own life. Lettie gave it to you. You just have to grow up and try and be worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-get-on-with-your-own-life-lettie-gave-it-to-you-you-just-have-to/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Eyes will not see you. Minds will not hold you. Where you are is nothing and nobody”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/eyes-will-not-see-you-minds-will-not-hold-you-where-you-are-is/) [neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) [Explore all 2,526 Neil Gaiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## 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": "“If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is airports.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Neil Gaiman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-then-purgatory-is-airports/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hell" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-then-purgatory-is-airports/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/neil-gaiman-29_hell-is-other-people_if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-t_1156103.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/neil-gaiman-29_hell-is-other-people_if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-t_1156103.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc3/neil-gaiman-29_hell-is-other-people_if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-t_1156103.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is airports.” — Neil Gaiman", "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": "Neil Gaiman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If Hell is other people, thought...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-then-purgatory-is-airports/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/if-hell-is-other-people-thought-shadow-then-purgatory-is-airports/#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 } } ] } ```