Flannery O'Connor has been called by Harold Bloom "a genius of the grotesque." Perhaps best known for her short fiction, O'Connor captures the moments at which innocence and evil conflate, when her characters might choose to redeem or be redeemed. Wise, funny, sad, and hopeful, here are some of our favorite Flannery O'Connor quotes.

“You have to quit confusing a madness with a mission.” 
―Flannery O'Connor, The Violent Bear it Away

“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

“Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it.” 
―Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood

"Living had got to be such a habit with him that he couldn't conceive of any other condition."
—"A Late Encounter with the Enemy," A Good Man Is Hard to Find

"We might all be destroyed by a hurricane. I can always find something to be thankful for."
—"A Circle in the Fire," A Good Man Is Hard to Find

"The body, lady, is like a house: it don't go anywhere; but the spirit, lady, is like a automobile: always on the move."
—"The Life You Save May Be Your Own," A Good Man Is Hard to Find

"If you know who you are, you can go anywhere."
—"Everything That Rises Must Converge," Everything That Rises Must Converge

“Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.” 
—Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose 

“I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.” —The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor 

“Conviction without experience makes for harshness. ” —The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor

"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."
—"A Good Man Is Hard to Find," A Good Man Is Hard to Find

“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.” 
—Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose