522 Quotes by Flannery O'Connor

Writing is a good example of self-abandonment. I never completely forget myself except when I am writing and I am never more completely myself than when I am writing.

... the novelist is bound by the reasonable possibilities, not the probabilities, of his culture.

Ours is the first age in history which has asked the child what he would tolerate learning.

Where there is no belief in the soul, there is very little drama . . . . Either one is serious about salvation or one is not. And it is well to realize that the maximum amount of seriousness admits the maximum amount of comedy. Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe.

Kindness and patience were always called for ...

Poorly written novels--no matter how pious and edifying the behavior of the characters--are not good in themselves and are therefore not really edifying.

The dead don't bother with particulars.

... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to take into eternity with him.

A God you understood would be less than yourself.