--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I told him I believed in hell, and that…" description: "\"“I told him I believed in hell, and that certain people, like me, had to live in hell before they died, to make up for missing out on it after death, s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-told-him-i-believed-in-hell-and-that-c_406664.jpg" --- # I told him I believed in hell, and that certain people… ![“I told him I believed in hell, and that certain people, like me, had to live in hell before they died, to make up for missing out on it after death, since they didn't believe in life after death, and what each person believed happened to him when he died.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-told-him-i-believed-in-hell-and-that-c_406664.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-told-him-i-believed-in-hell-and-that-c_406664.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/529/sylvia-plath-149_death_i-told-him-i-believed-in-hell-and-that-c_406664.jpg) > ““I told him I believed in hell, and that certain people, like me, had to live in hell before they died, to make up for missing out on it after death, since they didn't believe in life after death, and what each person believed happened to him when he died.”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels condemned to endure suffering in life as punishment for lacking belief in an afterlife, equating earthly hardship with a personal hell. **In simple terms:** Living pain as punishment for not believing in afterlife. Key Takeaway Accept suffering as a catalyst for personal insight. Themes suffering belief afterlife Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - mental health coping - philosophical debate - religious questioning Key Concepts existentialism punishment spiritual crisis Questions to Reflect On - Do you view hardship as a punishment or a teacher? - How does belief shape your experience of suffering? A Different Perspective It may overlook resilience and the possibility of finding meaning beyond punishment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life after death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-after-death/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) ## Related quotes > [“ Angel , who found a flower blooming in hell and died for it ...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-mills/angel-who-found-a-flower-blooming-in-hell-and-died-for-it/) [Pat Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-mills/) > [“I told you I believed in you, win or lose, I was going to be in the stands cheering for you tonight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaci-burton/i-told-you-i-believed-in-you-win-or-lose-i-was-going-to-be-in-the/) [Jaci Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaci-burton/) > [Jesus didn't die just to keep you out of hell - He died to keep hell out of you. He came to give you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/jesus-didn-t-die-just-to-keep-you-out-of-hell-he-died-to-keep-hell/) Unkown > [I trusted you, I told you everything, I believed you were a good person...behind that good was someone who I now don't know anymore...was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-trusted-you-i-told-you-everything-i-believed-you-were-a-good-person/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I believed in Hell, I'd definitely be going there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-wiedlin/if-i-believed-in-hell-i-d-definitely-be-going-there/) [Jane Wiedlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-wiedlin/) > [“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that He believed in hell. 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You're the only person who's ever believed in me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lilith-saintcrow/the-only-one-he-murmured-his-chin-dipped-a-little-bit-you-know-that/) [Lilith Saintcrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lilith-saintcrow/) > [“What if I believed that God Himself was the One who decreed I would be a quiet person? What if I believed that God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-rajnus/what-if-i-believed-that-god-himself-was-the-one-who-decreed-i-would/) Julie Rajnus ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. 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No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. 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Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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