I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one. Then they find themselves writing a sketch with an essay woven through it, or an essay with a sketch woven through it, or an editorial with a character in it, or a case history with a moral, or some other mongrel thing.
Flannery O'ConnorPurity strikes me as the most mysterious of the virtues and the more I think about it the less I know about it.
Flannery O'ConnorMrs. Hopewell had no bad qualities of her own but she was able to use other people's in such a constructive way that she never felt the lack.
Flannery O'ConnorKnowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are
Flannery O'ConnorThe writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot choose what he is able to make live.
Flannery O'ConnorWhere there is no belief in the soul, there is very little drama . . . . Either one is serious about salvation or one is not. And it is well to realize that the maximum amount of seriousness admits the maximum amount of comedy. Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe.
Flannery O'Connor