Flannery O'Connor Quotes

I am much younger now than I was at twelve or anyway less burdened.

Conviction without experiences makes for harshness.

It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes.

And if the student finds that this is not to his taste well that is regrettable. Most regrettable. His taste should not be consulted it is being formed.

He had a winning smile and it was evident that he didn't think he was any better than anybody else even though he was.

Now the second common characteristic of fiction follows from this, and it is that fiction is presented in such a way that the reader has the sense that it is unfolding around him. This doesn't mean he has to identify himself with the character or feel compassion for the character or anything like that. It just means that fiction has to be largely presented rather than reported. Another way to say it is that though fiction is a narrative art, it relies heavily on the element of drama.

It was love without reason, love for something futureless, love that appeared to exist only to be itself, imperious and all demanding, the kind that would cause him to make a fool of himself in an instant.

Art requires a delicate adjustment of the outer and inner worlds in such a way that, without changing their nature, they can be seen through each other.