Flannery O'Connor Quotes

The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.

My sin is the black spot which my bad act makes, seen against the disk of the Sun of Righteousness. Hence religion and sin come and go together.

One way you can get really close to God is to sin as hard as you can.

You've got to walk and talk with God to go to heaven... I have the devil in me! If I didn't have, I'd be Christian!

Jesus died for our sins, not our sexuality.

Jesus is never upset at sinners; he is only upset with people who do not think they are sinners.

Conviction is not repentance; conviction leads to repentance. But you can be convicted without repentance.

One day I was talking to Cora. She prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.

Only we big sinners have this grace of knowing what salvation really means.

Christians aren't people who never sin or always do the right thing. We're people who live in continual repentance.

Jesus came to save us from our own sins.

It must be said that charity can, in no way, exist along with mortal sin.

My faith reminds me that we all are sinners.

I do not understand how a man can be a true believer, in whom sin is not the greatest burden, sorrow and trouble.

Take this to heart and doubt not that you are the one who killed Christ. Your sins certainly did, and when you see the nails driven through his hands, be sure that you are pondering, and when the thorns pierce his brow, know that they are your evil thoughts.

Not until we take God seriously will we ever take sin seriously.

Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Savior.

Virtue is the daughter of Religion; Repentance, her adopted child,--a poor orphan who, without the asylum which she offers, would not know where to hide her sole treasure, her tears!

People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.

The cross is Gods way of taking away all of our accusations, excuses, and arguments.

How is it that there are not many who are led by sermons to forsake open sin? Do you know what I think? That is because preachers have too much worldly wisdom.

I do think that a minister who can preach a sermon without addressing sinners does not know how to preach.

Everyone thinks they know Jesus because they've got a personal relationship with him.

We have no choice but to be guilty. God is unthinkable if we are innocent.