25 Flannery O’Connor Quotes From the Southern Story Teller

These Flannery O’Connor quotes reveal what she thought about writing, books, life, and faith.

Flannery O’Connor is an American novelist from Georgia.

Her career started in high school, where she was an editor for the school paper.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and English literature from the Georgia State College for Women.

She also attended the Iowa Writers Workshop and studied with Robert Fitzgerald.

O’Connor is most known for her short stories, writing two books full of them: A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything That Rises Must Converge.

Her two novels include: Wise Blood and The Violent Bear it Away.

Her works center around southern locations and imperfect characters who question morality and ethics.

Keep reading these Flannery O’Connor quotes to discover her wealth of knowledge and writing expertise.

Don’t forget to also check out these Margaret Atwood quotes that prove words are powerful.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

Browse our entire collection of inspirational quotes for more motivating ideas and concepts.

Flannery O’Connor quotes about writing and art

1. “I write to discover what I know.” ― Flannery O’Connor

2. “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” ― Flannery O’Connor

3. “The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not require his attention.” ― Flannery O’Connor

4. “People without hope not only don’t write novels but what is more to the point, they don’t read them.” ― Flannery O’Connor

5. “Everywhere I go, I’m asked if the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them.” ― Flannery O’Connor

6. “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

7. “Whenever I’m asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one.” ― Flannery O’Connor

8. “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

Flannery O’Connor quotes about truth and conviction

9. “The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode.” ― Flannery O’Connor

10. “Conviction without experience makes for harshness.” ― Flannery O’Connor

11. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd.” ― Flannery O’Connor

12. “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” ― Flannery O’Connor

13. “There are all kinds of truth … but behind all of them there is only one truth and that is that there’s no truth.” ― Flannery O’Connor

14. “To know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility.” ― Flannery O’Connor

Flannery O’Connor quotes about faith, beliefs, and God

15. “Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better.” ― Flannery O’Connor

16. “Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.” ― Flannery O’Connor

17. “She could never be a saint, but she thought she could be a martyr if they killed her quick.” ― Flannery O’Connor

18. “Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe.” ― Flannery O’Connor

19. “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.” ― Flannery O’Connor

20. “Satisfy your demand for reason but always remember that charity is beyond reason, and God can be known through charity.” ― Flannery O’Connor

21. “The operation of the Church is entirely set up for the sinner; which creates much misunderstanding among the smug.” ― Flannery O’Connor

22. “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

23. “Faith comes and goes. It rises and falls like the tides of an invisible ocean. If it is presumptuous to think that faith will stay with you forever, it is just as presumptuous to think that unbelief will.” ― Flannery O’Connor

24. “For me, it is the virgin birth, the Incarnation, the resurrection which are the true laws of the flesh and the physical. Death, decay, destruction are the suspension of these laws. I am always astonished at the emphasis the Church puts on the body. It is not the soul she says that will rise but the body, glorified.” ― Flannery O’Connor

Flannery O’Connor quotes about books, fiction, and stories

25. “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

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What did you learn from these Flannery O’Connor quotes?

Flannery drew on her life as a southerner and Roman Catholic when she wrote.

Her work was characterized as grotesque due to the nature of events her characters found themselves in.

Her characters were often faced with moral dilemmas and dealt with racial undertones and disability.

They undergo a transformation due to the pain they experience through violence, illness, and other behavior.

Flannery also wove her sense of humor into her words.

Even though she lived a secluded life, she had a keen grasp of humanity and an understanding of sensitive issues.

She supported the civil rights effort and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

She held broad progressive beliefs, even voting for JFK, but still described herself as an “integrationist by principle and a segregationist by taste.”

Flannery was diagnosed with lupus, just like her father, and lived the remainder of her life at the family farm.

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