More quotes by Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

"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."
— Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose Read More
"There is no excuse for anyone to write fiction for public consumption unless he has been called to do so by the presence of a gift. It is the nature of fiction not to be good for much unless it is good in itself."
— Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose Read More
"Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days."
— Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose Read More
"When there is a tendency to compartmentalize the spiritual and make it resident in a certain type of life only, the spiritual is apt gradually to be lost."
— Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose Read More
"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."
— Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose Read More