Flannery O'connor Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Flannery O'connor quotes, Flannery O'connor sayings, and Flannery O'connor proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. Flannery O'Connor
To expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life and this is a softness that ends in bitterness. Flannery O'Connor
Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to was never there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it. Where is there a place for you to be? No place... Nothing outside you can give you any place... In yourself right now is all the place you've got. Flannery O'Connor
The Southerner is usually tolerant of those weaknesses that proceed from innocence. Flannery O'Connor
The operation of the Church is entirely set up for the sinner; which creates much misunderstanding among the smug. Flannery O'Connor
Doctors always think anybody doing something they aren't is a quack; also they think all patients are idiots. Flannery O'Connor
The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location Flannery O'Connor
It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes. Flannery O'Connor
Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days. Flannery O'Connor
Art never responds to the wish to make it democratic; it is not for everybody; it is only for those who are willing to undergo the effort needed to understand it. Flannery O'Connor
Manners are of such great consequence to the novelist that any kind will do. Bad manners are better than no manners at all, and because we are losing our customary manners, we are probably overly conscious of them; this seems to be a condition that produces writers. Flannery O'Connor
Conviction without experience makes for harshness. Flannery O'Connor
You have to quit confusing a madness with a mission. Flannery O'Connor
...free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. Freedom cannot be conceived simply. Flannery O'Connor
A story has to have muscle as well as meaning, and the meaning has to be in the muscle. Flannery O'Connor
Dogma can in no way limit a limitless God. Flannery O'Connor
Dogma is the guardian of mystery. The doctrines are spiritually significant in ways that we cannot fathom. Flannery O'Connor
Good and evil appear to be joined in every culture at the spine. Flannery O'Connor
Kept rattling the ice in her glass, rattling her beads, rattling her bracelet like an impatient pony jingling its harness. Flannery O'Connor
When the peacock has presented his back, the spectator will usually begin to walk around him to get a front view; but the peacock will continue to turn so that no front view is possible. The thing to do then is to stand still and wait until it pleases him to turn. When it suits him, the peacock will face you. Then you will see in a green-bronze arch around him a galaxy of gazing, haloed suns. Flannery O'Connor
Free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. Flannery O'Connor
Southern culture has fostered a type of imagination that has been influenced by Christianity of a not too unorthodox kind and by a strong devotion to the Bible, which has kept our minds attached to the concrete and the living symbol. Flannery O'Connor
Good and evil appear to be joined in every culture at the spine. Flannery O'Connor
If you live today, you breathe in nihilism ... it's the gas you breathe. If I hadn't had the Church to fight it with or to tell me the necessity of fighting it, I would be the stinkiest logical positivist you ever saw right now. Flannery O'Connor
It's easier to bleed than sweat Flannery O'Connor
The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not require his attention. Flannery O'Connor
The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location. Flannery O'Connor
Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are. Flannery O'Connor