--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was a gay fiction among us that we…" description: "\"There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/charles-dickens-34_belief_there-was-a-gay-fiction-among-us-that-we_1440558.jpg" --- # There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly… ![“There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last respect a rather common one.” quote by Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/charles-dickens-34_belief_there-was-a-gay-fiction-among-us-that-we_1440558.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/charles-dickens-34_belief_there-was-a-gay-fiction-among-us-that-we_1440558.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/charles-dickens-34_belief_there-was-a-gay-fiction-among-us-that-we_1440558.jpg) > “There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last respect a rather common one.” [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He notes a superficial, carefree façade masking deeper, unspoken realities, suggesting such contradictions are common. **In simple terms:** People often hide true feelings behind a happy front. Key Takeaway Be aware of hidden truths beneath appearances. Themes society authenticity contradiction Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal relationships - workplace dynamics - media narratives Key Concepts self‑deception social masks Questions to Reflect On - What masks do you wear in daily life? - When is it appropriate to reveal deeper truths? A Different Perspective Not all hidden truths are harmful; some protect privacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Enjoyment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enjoyment/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gay/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Skeletons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skeletons/) ## Related quotes > [“There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves and a skeleton of truth that we never did.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-was-a-gay-fiction-among-us-that-we-were-constantly-enjoying/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/we-were-always-more-or-less-miserable-and-most-of-our-acquaintance/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [We spent as much money as we could and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/we-spent-as-much-money-as-we-could-and-got-as-little-for-it-as-people/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Doctrine is the frame-work of life; it is the skeleton of truth, to be clothed and rounded out by the living graces of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adoniram-judson-gordon/doctrine-is-the-frame-work-of-life-it-is-the-skeleton-of-truth-to-be/) [Adoniram Judson Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adoniram-judson-gordon/) > [“Dutton, the home of Winnie the Pooh, would find a second identity as a home for gay fiction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/dutton-the-home-of-winnie-the-pooh-would-find-a-second-identity-as-a/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [Perhaps no other body of literature is as subject to political pressures from within the community as gay fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/perhaps-no-other-body-of-literature-is-as-subject-to-political/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [Blackened skeleton arms of wood by the wayside pointed upward to the convent, as if the ghosts of former travellers, overwhelmed by the snow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/blackened-skeleton-arms-of-wood-by-the-wayside-pointed-upward-to-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/an-evening-wind-uprose-too-and-the-slighter-branches-cracked-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/time-was-with-most-of-us-when-christmas-day-encircling-all-our/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [It always grieves me to contemplate the initiation of children into the ways of life when they are scarcely more than infants. It checks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-always-grieves-me-to-contemplate-the-initiation-of-children-into/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Structure is nothing if it is all you got. Skeletons spook people if they try to walk around on their own. I really wonder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/structure-is-nothing-if-it-is-all-you-got-skeletons-spook-people-if/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Only by the candle, held in the skeleton hand of Poverty, can man read his own dark heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/only-by-the-candle-held-in-the-skeleton-hand-of-poverty-can-man-read/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [“Everything we know about her is so picture perfect. We’ve all got skeletons in”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-edger/everything-we-know-about-her-is-so-picture-perfect-we-ve-all-got/) [Stephen Edger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-edger/) > [“No matter, they weren’t going anywhere. Never again. Two skeletons buried beneath a dead city. No more fitting a barrow for a warrior of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/no-matter-they-weren-t-going-anywhere-never-again-two-skeletons/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) ## More by Charles Dickens > [“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-other-swindlers-upon-earth-are-nothing-to-the-self-swindlers-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-can-be-no-disparity-in-marriage-like-unsuitability-of-mind-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A new heart for a New Year, always!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-new-heart-for-a-new-year-always/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mrs-joe-was-a-very-clean-housekeeper-but-had-an-exquisite-art-of/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-seems-a-magic-in-the-very-name-of-christmas/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“evening, they began to think that although he could never hope to be an Englishman, still it would be hard to visit that affliction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/evening-they-began-to-think-that-although-he-could-never-hope-to-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/besides-which-all-that-i-could-have-said-of-the-story-to-any-purpose/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The wheels rolled on, and rolled down by the Monument, and by the Tower; and by the Docks; down by Ratcliffe, and by Rotherhithe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-wheels-rolled-on-and-rolled-down-by-the-monument-and-by-the-tower/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The three customers pulled off their hats to Madame Defarge, with three flourishes. She acknowledged their homage by bending her head, and giving them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-three-customers-pulled-off-their-hats-to-madame-defarge-with/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-a-situation-cried-miss-squeers-what-is-the-reason-that-men-fall/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) [Explore all 2,309 Charles Dickens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? 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If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/) [Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/) > [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. 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Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. 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