She felt that she would have to be much more than just a doctor or an engineer. She would have to be a saint.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for individuals to embody higher ideals beyond their professional roles.
Flannery O'Connor's quote reflects the understanding that certain professions, like being a doctor or engineer, carry significant moral and ethical responsibilities. It suggests that truly excelling in such roles requires a compassionate and selfless nature, akin to that of a saint, indicating the importance of integrity and empathy in one's work.
In practice
During a graduation speech to inspire students entering the medical field.
Let me make no bones about it: I write from the standpoint of Christian orthodoxy. Nothing is more repulsive to me than the idea of myself setting up a little universe of my own choosing and propounding a little immoralistic message. I write with a solid belief in all the Christian dogmas.
What people donβt realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross.
If you live today, you breath in nihilism ... it's the gas you breathe. If I hadn't had the Church to fight it with or to tell me the necessity of fighting it, I would be the stinkingest logical positivist you ever saw right now.
There won't be any biographies of me because, for only one reason, lives spent between the house and the chicken yard do not make exciting copy.
Knowing who you are is good for one generation only. You haven't the foggiest idea where you stand now or who you are
He loved her because it was his nature to do so, but there were times when he could not endure her love for him. There were times when it became nothing but pure idiot mystery.
Ignorance lies not in the things you don't know, but in the things you know that ain't so.
Most misfortunes are the results of misused time.
Affliction comes to us all, not to make us sad, but sober; not to make us sorry, but to make us wise; not to make us despondent, but by its darkness to refresh us as the night refreshes the day; not to impoverish, but to enrich us
To mature is in part to realize that while complete intimacy and omniscience and power cannot be had, self-transcendence, growth, and closeness to others are nevertheless within one's reach.
Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.
Never lose hope, my heart, miracles dwell in the invisible. If the whole world turns against you keep your eyes on the Friend.
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