The operation of the Church is entirely set up for the sinne... - Flannery O'Connor

"The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode."

"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."

"Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better."

"I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted."

"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher."