Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough informatio... - Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

"Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system."

"I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil.I have also found that what I write is read by an audience which puts little stock either in grace or the devil. You discover your audience at the same time and in the same way that you discover your subject, but it is an added blow."

"Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days."

"Your beliefs will be the light by which you see, but they will not be what you see and they will not be a substitute for seeing."

"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."