--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps, however, it is the same with…" description: "\"“Perhaps, however, it is the same with spinsters as with ghosts; and one has to be of their ranks in order to see them at all.”\" — Sarah Waters" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/sarah-waters-2758_ghost_perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spin_784833.png" --- # Perhaps, however, it is the same with spinsters as with… ![“Perhaps, however, it is the same with spinsters as with ghosts; and one has to be of their ranks in order to see them at all.” quote by Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/sarah-waters-2758_ghost_perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spin_784833.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/sarah-waters-2758_ghost_perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spin_784833.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/sarah-waters-2758_ghost_perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spin_784833.png) > ““Perhaps, however, it is the same with spinsters as with ghosts; and one has to be of their ranks in order to see them at all.”” [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator suggests that only those who share a marginalized identity can truly understand its members. **In simple terms:** Only insiders can fully grasp their own group's experience. Key Takeaway Seek empathy through shared experience. Themes identity understanding empathy Mood reflective empathetic Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - LGBTQ+ community - historical research - personal relationships Key Concepts social marginalization subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How can outsiders responsibly learn about marginalized groups? - What risks arise from assuming insider status? A Different Perspective Assuming shared experience can ignore individual differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) [Ghosts Ranks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts-ranks-6039995/) [Ranks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ranks/) [Spinsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spinsters/) [Spinsters Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spinsters-ghosts-6039994/) ## Related quotes > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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You know the house… the one no one will purchase? The one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/every-town-has-that-house-the-one-that-once-held-dark-secrets-you/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [...you don't need ghosts to be haunted. Memory does that just fine without any supernatural help at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/you-don-t-need-ghosts-to-be-haunted-memory-does-that-just-fine/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“But the dead, they have ghosts. Ghosts are very useful for haunting. Never forget the dead, Tula. They have their function. 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Mists gather here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/they-call-them-the-haunted-shores-these-stretches-of-devonshire-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“I assure you; while I look like a ghost, I'm no spirit or demon. I'm nothing but a girl struggling to make her way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leanna-renee-hieber/i-assure-you-while-i-look-like-a-ghost-i-m-no-spirit-or-demon-i-m/) [Leanna Renee Hieber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leanna-renee-hieber/) > [Do I believe in ghosts?...I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-r-james/do-i-believe-in-ghosts-i-am-prepared-to-consider-evidence-and-accept/) [M. R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-james/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [Cinema plus Psychoanalysis equals the Science of Ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/cinema-plus-psychoanalysis-equals-the-science-of-ghosts/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) ## More by Sarah Waters > [“Now, from the crown of my head to the curve of my toe-nails, there was an unguent for every part of me - oil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/now-from-the-crown-of-my-head-to-the-curve-of-my-toe-nails-there-was/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Miss Craven held up a pair she thought would fit me—monstrous great things they were, of course, and I thought she smiled as she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/miss-craven-held-up-a-pair-she-thought-would-fit-me-monstrous-great/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [I barely knew I had skin before I met you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-barely-knew-i-had-skin-before-i-met-you/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [My nan was a nursery maid. Most people weren't in big houses. They were maids of all work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/my-nan-was-a-nursery-maid-most-people-weren-t-in-big-houses-they-were/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [Being in love, you know... it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/being-in-love-you-know-it-s-not-like-having-a-canary-in-a-cage-when/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [For was that all, she thought bleakly, that love ever was? Something that saved one from loneliness? A sort of insurance policy against not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/for-was-that-all-she-thought-bleakly-that-love-ever-was-something/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“And yet, I seemed to feel my eyes bound, too, with bands of silk. And at my throat there was a velvet collar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/and-yet-i-seemed-to-feel-my-eyes-bound-too-with-bands-of-silk-and-at/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“No-one speaks. No-one moves (…). We glide, softly, in silence, into our dark and separate hells”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/no-one-speaks-no-one-moves-we-glide-softly-in-silence-into-our-dark/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“She loved these walks through London. She seemed, as she made them, to become porous, to soak in detail after detail; or else, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/she-loved-these-walks-through-london-she-seemed-as-she-made-them-to/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Oh, for shame! Nancy, have you never seen Florrie's face in a chrysanthemum, or a rose?' 'Never.' I said. 'Though there was a flounder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/oh-for-shame-nancy-have-you-never-seen-florrie-s-face-in-a/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“My locket hangs in my closet beside the glass, the only shining thing among so many shadows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/my-locket-hangs-in-my-closet-beside-the-glass-the-only-shining-thing/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“Mr Bliss looked grave. 'Your brother was very sensible to warn you, Miss Astley - but sadly misinformed. There are no trams in Trafalgur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/mr-bliss-looked-grave-your-brother-was-very-sensible-to-warn-you-miss/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [I knew Id always be a second-rate academic, and I thought, Well, Id rather be a second-rate novelist or even a third-rate one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-knew-id-always-be-a-second-rate-academic-and-i-thought-well-id/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [“It is a world that is made of love. Did you think there is only the kind of love your sister knows for her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/it-is-a-world-that-is-made-of-love-did-you-think-there-is-only-the/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) [Explore all 148 Sarah Waters quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) ## More Ghost quotes > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [I was overcome by the Holy Ghost one time, but in a Baptist way. I was six or seven, and I was saved. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-was-overcome-by-the-holy-ghost-one-time-but-in-a-baptist-way-i-was/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [“Who is this ghost ordered into music?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuko-shiraishi/who-is-this-ghost-ordered-into-music/) [Kazuko Shiraishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuko-shiraishi/) > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Maybe I could be friends with a ghost. I wouldn’t be able to kill him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-harrison/maybe-i-could-be-friends-with-a-ghost-i-wouldn-t-be-able-to-kill-him/) [Kim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-harrison/) > [I love ghost stories, I love to read them, and I love the idea of being haunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-love-ghost-stories-i-love-to-read-them-and-i-love-the-idea-of-being/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) > [The Holy Ghost is the greatest guarantor of inward peace in our unstable world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-faust/the-holy-ghost-is-the-greatest-guarantor-of-inward-peace-in-our/) [James E. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-e-faust/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? 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/) > [She knows not loves that kissed her She knows not where. Art thou the ghost, my sister, White sister there, Am I the ghost,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/she-knows-not-loves-that-kissed-her-she-knows-not-where-art-thou-the/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [Pity the planet, all joy gone from this sweet volcanic cone; peace to our children when they fall in small war on the heel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/pity-the-planet-all-joy-gone-from-this-sweet-volcanic-cone-peace-to/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-the-church-needs-to-day-is-not-more-machinery-or-better-not-new/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do I believe in ghosts?...I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-r-james/do-i-believe-in-ghosts-i-am-prepared-to-consider-evidence-and-accept/) [M. R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-james/) > [Just live that life. It doesn't matter whether it is life or hell, life of the hungry ghost, life of the animal, it's okay;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taizan-maezumi/just-live-that-life-it-doesn-t-matter-whether-it-is-life-or-hell-life/) [Taizan Maezumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taizan-maezumi/) [Browse all 2,175 Ghost quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Perhaps, however, it is the same with spinsters as with ghosts; and one has to be of their ranks in order to see them at all.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Waters" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spinsters-as-with-ghosts-and-one/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ghost" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spinsters-as-with-ghosts-and-one/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/sarah-waters-2758_ghost_perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spin_784833.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/sarah-waters-2758_ghost_perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spin_784833.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae6/sarah-waters-2758_ghost_perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spin_784833.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Perhaps, however, it is the same with spinsters as with ghosts; and one has to be of their ranks in order to…” — Sarah Waters", "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": "Sarah Waters", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Perhaps, however, it is the same...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spinsters-as-with-ghosts-and-one/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/perhaps-however-it-is-the-same-with-spinsters-as-with-ghosts-and-one/#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 } } ] } ```