“Fiction begins where human knowledge begins — with the senses—and every fiction writer is bound by this fundamental aspect of his medium.” – Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

“There is no excuse for anyone to write fiction for public consumption unless he has been called to do so by the presence of a gift. It is the nature of fiction not to be good for much unless it is good in itself.” – Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

“It’s said that when Henry James received a manuscript that he didn’t like, he would return it with the comment, ‘You have chosen a good subject and are treating it in a straightforward manner.’ This usually pleased the person getting the manuscript back, but it was the worst thing that James could think of to say, for he knew, better than anybody else, that the straightforward manner is seldom equal to the complications of the good subject.” – Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

“To me the fairy tale is like the sea, and the sagas and myths are like the waves upon it; a tale rises to be a myth, and sinks down again into being a fairy tale.” – Marie-Louise von Franz, The Interpretation of Fairy Tales