--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The times are so peculiar now, so…" description: "\"The times are so peculiar now, so mediaeval so unreasonable that for the first time in a hundred years truth is really stranger than fiction. Any truth..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/gertrude-stein-667_fiction_the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaev_1390271.jpg" --- # The times are so peculiar now, so mediaeval so… ![“The times are so peculiar now, so mediaeval so unreasonable that for the first time in a hundred years truth is really stranger than fiction. Any truth.” quote by Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/gertrude-stein-667_fiction_the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaev_1390271.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/gertrude-stein-667_fiction_the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaev_1390271.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/gertrude-stein-667_fiction_the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaev_1390271.jpg) > “The times are so peculiar now, so mediaeval so unreasonable that for the first time in a hundred years truth is really stranger than fiction. Any truth.” [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Current events are so absurd that reality surpasses fiction, making truth stranger than any story. **In simple terms:** Truth now feels more bizarre than fiction. Key Takeaway Question reality's oddities. Themes absurdity truth media Mood curious critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - news consumption - political discourse - artistic expression - social media Key Concepts literature philosophy culture Questions to Reflect On - What makes truth stranger than fiction today? - How do we discern fact from fiction? A Different Perspective Truth can be distorted by bias and sensationalism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) [Stranger than fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger-than-fiction/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War of the worlds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-of-the-worlds/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World war ii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war-ii/) ## Related quotes > [The reason truth is stranger than fiction is that truth has a better author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-taylor/the-reason-truth-is-stranger-than-fiction-is-that-truth-has-a-better/) Stuart Taylor > [“They say 'truth is stranger than fiction,' but I like to say fiction is truth - only stranger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chip-hill/they-say-truth-is-stranger-than-fiction-but-i-like-to-say-fiction-is/) Chip Hill > [No one is ever really a stranger. We cling to the belief that we share nothing with certain people. It's rubbish. We have almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-haddon/no-one-is-ever-really-a-stranger-we-cling-to-the-belief-that-we-share/) [Mark Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-haddon/) > [Fiction has a unique role in conveying Truth. In fact, only fiction that is Truth with a capital T is worthwhile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-b-jenkins/fiction-has-a-unique-role-in-conveying-truth-in-fact-only-fiction/) [Jerry B. Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-b-jenkins/) > [“Fiction is truth, even if it is not fact. If you believe only in facts and forget stories, your brain will live, but your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/fiction-is-truth-even-if-it-is-not-fact-if-you-believe-only-in-facts/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [There's no division on my bookshelf between fiction and nonfiction. As far as I'm concerned, fiction is about the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/there-s-no-division-on-my-bookshelf-between-fiction-and-nonfiction-as/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Kids, fiction is the truth inside the lie, and the truth of this fiction is simple enough: the magic exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/kids-fiction-is-the-truth-inside-the-lie-and-the-truth-of-this/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“There is truth in stories,” said Arthur. “There is truth in one of your paintings, boy or in a sunset or a couplet from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/there-is-truth-in-stories-said-arthur-there-is-truth-in-one-of-your/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [But please remember: this is only a work of fiction. The truth, as always, will be far stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/but-please-remember-this-is-only-a-work-of-fiction-the-truth-as/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Fiction is not necessarily about what you know, it's about how you feel. That is the truth about fiction, and the other truth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/fiction-is-not-necessarily-about-what-you-know-it-s-about-how-you/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Fiction is truth. I think fiction is the truest thing there ever was. My whole effort is to remove that distinction. The writer is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/fiction-is-truth-i-think-fiction-is-the-truest-thing-there-ever-was/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [Fiction is the truth inside the lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/fiction-is-the-truth-inside-the-lie/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Fiction is truth not limited by facts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maughan/fiction-is-truth-not-limited-by-facts/) [Peter Maughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maughan/) > [Fiction is Truth's elder sister. Obviously. No one in the world knew what truth was till some one had told a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/fiction-is-truth-s-elder-sister-obviously-no-one-in-the-world-knew/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [I have found that in fiction one is freer to speak the truth, if only because in fiction the truth is not expected or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sington/i-have-found-that-in-fiction-one-is-freer-to-speak-the-truth-if-only/) [Philip Sington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sington/) ## More by Gertrude Stein > [I certainly do care for you Jeff Campbell less than you are always thinking and much more than you are ever knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-certainly-do-care-for-you-jeff-campbell-less-than-you-are-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what Americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/americans-are-very-friendly-and-very-suspicious-that-is-what/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“When is there some discharge when. There never is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/when-is-there-some-discharge-when-there-never-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [There is no such thing as repetition. Only insistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/there-is-no-such-thing-as-repetition-only-insistance/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I am I because my little dog knows me but, creatively speaking the little dog knowing that you are you and your recognising that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-am-i-because-my-little-dog-knows-me-but-creatively-speaking-the/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [How likely are definitions to be pleasurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/how-likely-are-definitions-to-be-pleasurable/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [ “What is the answer?" \[ I \[Alice B Toklas\] was silent \] In that case, what is the question?” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/what-is-the-answer-i-alice-b-toklas-was-silent-in-that-case-what-is/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [More and more I like to take a train. I understand why the French prefer it to automobiling it is so much more sociable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/more-and-more-i-like-to-take-a-train-i-understand-why-the-french/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Adventure is making the distant approach nearer but romance is having what is where it is which is not where you are stay where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/adventure-is-making-the-distant-approach-nearer-but-romance-is-having/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Forensics is eloquence and reduction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/forensics-is-eloquence-and-reduction/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Eating and sleeping are not like loving and breathing. Washing is not like eating and sleeping. Believing is like breathing and loving. Religion can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/eating-and-sleeping-are-not-like-loving-and-breathing-washing-is-not/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I write for myself and strangers. The strangers, dear Readers, are an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-write-for-myself-and-strangers-the-strangers-dear-readers-are-an/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [“A bag which was left and not only taken but turned away was not found. The place was shown to be very like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/a-bag-which-was-left-and-not-only-taken-but-turned-away-was-not-found/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [I don't envisage collectivism. There is no such animal, it is always individualism, sometimes the rest vote and sometimes they do not, and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/i-don-t-envisage-collectivism-there-is-no-such-animal-it-is-always/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) [Explore all 418 Gertrude Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) Coheed and Cambria > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The times are so peculiar now, so mediaeval so unreasonable that for the first time in a hundred years truth is really stranger than fiction. Any truth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gertrude Stein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaeval-so-unreasonable-that-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaeval-so-unreasonable-that-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/gertrude-stein-667_fiction_the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaev_1390271.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/gertrude-stein-667_fiction_the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaev_1390271.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fde/gertrude-stein-667_fiction_the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaev_1390271.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The times are so peculiar now, so mediaeval so unreasonable that for the first time in a hundred years truth…” — Gertrude Stein", "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": "Gertrude Stein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The times are so peculiar now,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaeval-so-unreasonable-that-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/the-times-are-so-peculiar-now-so-mediaeval-so-unreasonable-that-for/#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 } } ] } ```