“To expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life and this is a softness that ends in bitterness.”— Flannery O’Connor
I sure wish I had heeded that when I first read it many years ago; it would have saved me a lot of heartache. Miss O’Connor also said this:
“I can, with one eye squinted, take it all as a blessing.”
I have been squinting, with this cataract, and I think she may be on to something.
I know the Church isn’t ready for it, but I sure hope Flannery O’Connor is canonized someday. She certainly bore her long debilitating illness with rare grace and courage (and wit) and she certainly was wise.
And hey, she could be proclaimed the patron saint of smart asses…
“To expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life and this is a softness that ends in bitterness.”
Typical patronizing condescension from a Southerner of her generation. Words almost exactly like these were used by plenty of Southern whites assessing movements for social change in the south in the 1950s. Thanks for reminding me why I can’t stand FO.
Owen White’s comments are SICK and, as we say in the South: ignunt. F.O. opposed segregation and had a tremendous respect for the sufferings of people of color. White has totally misread her quote and is obviously hung up on a particular (probably personal) issue. White reminds me of the stupid Bishop in the South who banned F.O.’s writings because she used the N word, never understanding that she placed the N word on the lips of ignunt rednecks…
Wow. Owen. Astonishing. No one but you would see this as remotely political. And to typify Miss O’Connor as a typical Southerner of her generation is, well, dense, and makes me wonder if you have read anything by her at all.
As for race, Flannery O’Connor always viewed black folks, whether the fictional ones in her stories or the real ones she wrote about in her letters, with a sympathetic, if unsentimental, eye.
“I can, with one eye squinted, take it all as a blessing.”
I love it.
Daniel, you and yours will be remembered in prayer at the pilgrimage this weekend in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Uniontown.
Thanks! May you have a blessed pilgrimage…
Did I say FO was a racist? No? I said she was patronizing and condescending in the manner many Southerners are. Plenty of people living in the South at that time stated they were “opposed to segregation” and yet were also critical of the aggressive tactics used by many in the Civil Rights movement. And those Southerners were pathetic and wrong.
And, of course, the white people we like always had “tremendous respect” for blacks. And no, I could care less that FO used the work nigger in her writings. I don’t think her fiction is in the slightest bit racist. I simply think FO was a snob when it came to activism.
I am half Southern by blood and have lived in the Memphis for the last 10 years, so sure, I’m ignunt of Southerners. Good grief you people and your cult heroes.
I’ll take Miss O’Connor over your cult heroes (Lenin, Marx, and the like) anyday!
This post has prompted me to hunt down that dratted copy of “Atlas Shrugged” I knew I had and throw it directly in the garbage.
Now to crack open some Flannery in honor of the act.
Will someone tell Owen to shut the fuck up? His adolescent bitching has started to get to us all.
God, read a different book and get over your own crap.