Flannery O'Connor

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

The Southerner is usually tolerant of those weaknesses that proceed from innocence.

The writer can choose what he writes about but he cannot choose what he is able to make live.

I'm not afraid of wanting money at all. Money will give me more power to do things that are truer to my spirit than what I'm already doing.

Another thing that freaks me out is time. Time is like a book. You have a beginning, a middle and an end. It's just a cycle.

If art is singular expression, then by nature, the best art is controversial. But when art stirs debate for reasons besides its artistic integrity, that's when things get bent.