Flannery O'Connor Quotes

The saint endeavors to recover a gift which he has lost; the sinner tries to obtain something which was never his. In brief, he repeats the Fall.

There is no original sin. You don't have to pay repentance to anything or anybody.

You will never see the preciousness of a Savior, if you do not see the reality of your sin.

In Adam's fall We sinned all. In the new Adam's rise, We shall all reach the skies.

We are sinful not only because we have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, but also because we have not yet eaten of the Tree of Life. The state in which we are is sinful, irrespective of guilt.

Salvation is not a religion. It's not rules or regulations or rituals. Salvation is a relationship. That relationship doesn't begin when you get to Heaven; it begins here on Earth.

The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.

Despair of ever being saved, "except thou be born again," or of seeing God "without holiness," or of having part in Christ except thou "love him above father, mother, or thy own life." This kind of despair is one of the first steps to heaven.

I have seen miracles in my time, my brothers and sisters. The greatest miracle of all, I believe, is the transformation that comes into the life of a man or a woman who accepts the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and tries to live it in his or her life.

A recovery of the old sense of sin is essential to Christianity. Christ takes it for granted that men are bad. Until we really feel this assumption of His to be true, though we are part of the world He came to save, we are not part of the audience to whom His words are addressed.

The beginning of the way to heaven, is to feel that we are on the way to hell.

You will not be carried to Heaven lying at ease upon a feather bed.

I was born again. It happens to Episcopalians. Sometimes it doesn't hit you till you're 47 years old. It changed my whole life for the better... I spent a lot of time giving Christian witness all over the country to church groups and stuff.

After being so bad I could hear the angels singing.

In my case Pilgrim's Progress consisted in my having to climb down a thousand ladders until I could reach out my hand to the little clod of earth that I am.

God-fearing people, once they're saved from their sins, they don't mind talking about it.

This is what people don't understand. When they might see me do something that's not 'God-like,' then they say, 'Well, I thought you were saved?' I am saved. I'm not perfect. I have emotions still. My name's still Gary. These things here are not all cleaned up. I'm showing you my path.

It's like every day I'm born anew, without Jesus.

I discovered who I was when I discovered God. You are just like your father God.

I can remember the night I became a Christian. And man, this weight came off of me and all that kind of stuff. What I didn't realize was, that was just the beginning - of a huge journey.

According to God's word, everybody at some point is going to be given the opportunity to know the truth.

I asked myself, 'What are you going to do with your life? Are you going to be like everyone else or are you going to do what's right?' I just made a decision. I said, 'It's time to grow up. It's time to start living for the Lord, do things the right way.' I accepted the Lord, and it changed my life.

Whether this was explicitly taught or implicitly caught, I grew up with the impression that when it comes to the Christian life, justification was step one and sanctification was step two and that once we get to step two there's no reason to revisit step one.

Can human hearts be changed? Why, of course! It happens every day in the great missionary work of the Church. It is one of the most widespread of Christ's modern miracles. If it hasn't happened to you - it should.

Ah, to think how thin the veil that lies Between the pain of hell and Paradise.