---
title: "10 South carolina Quotes By Pat Conroy"
description: "10 South carolina quotes by Pat Conroy. Plus more from Pat Conroy and more South carolina sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/pat-conroy-768_carolina_south-carolina-is-not-a-state-it-is-a-cu_1738291.jpg"
---

> [South Carolina is not a state; it is a cult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/south-carolina-is-not-a-state-it-is-a-cult/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25e/pat-conroy-768_carolina_south-carolina-is-not-a-state-it-is-a-cu_1738291.jpg)

> [The University of South Carolina has always played a role in my life and the intellectual life of South Carolina.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/the-university-of-south-carolina-has-always-played-a-role-in-my-life/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/97e/pat-conroy-768_carolina_the-university-of-south-carolina-has-alw_177145.jpg)

> [“Together they spent their whole lives waiting for their luck to change, as though luck were some fabulous tide that would one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/together-they-spent-their-whole-lives-waiting-for-their-luck-to/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/731/pat-conroy-768_beautiful-writing_together-they-spent-their-whole-lives-wa_3226153.jpg)

> [Red Hook Road made me happy, and happy to be alive. It took me out of my home on the coast of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/red-hook-road-made-me-happy-and-happy-to-be-alive-it-took-me-out-of/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/881/pat-conroy-768_alive_red-hook-road-made-me-happy-and-happy-to_2922819.jpg)

> [When I bought a collection of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, I returned home with a bright enthusiasm to begin the long march into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/when-i-bought-a-collection-of-tolstoy-and-dostoyevsky-i-returned-home/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/pat-conroy-768_begin_when-i-bought-a-collection-of-tolstoy-an_2436174.jpg)

> [To describe our growing up in the lowcountry of South Carolina, I would have to take you to the marsh on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/to-describe-our-growing-up-in-the-lowcountry-of-south-carolina-i/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/289/pat-conroy-768_blue_to-describe-our-growing-up-in-the-lowcou_2951814.jpg)

> [Here's what I love: when a great writer turns me into a Jew from Chicago, a lesbian out of South Carolina, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/here-s-what-i-love-when-a-great-writer-turns-me-into-a-jew-from/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/pat-conroy-768_armor_here-s-what-i-love-when-a-great-writer-t_187824.jpg)

> [“I had come to know the singular power of a river advancing toward the open sea and the power of tides regulating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-had-come-to-know-the-singular-power-of-a-river-advancing-toward-the/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/003/pat-conroy-768_first-time_i-had-come-to-know-the-singular-power-of_281602.jpg)

> [“It was growing dark on this long southern evening, and suddenly, at the exact point her finger had indicated, the moon lifted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/it-was-growing-dark-on-this-long-southern-evening-and-suddenly-at-the/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc8/pat-conroy-768_beauty_it-was-growing-dark-on-this-long-souther_1441247.jpg)

> [“It was my father who called the city the Mansion on the River. He was talking about Charleston, South Carolina, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/it-was-my-father-who-called-the-city-the-mansion-on-the-river-he-was/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fd/pat-conroy-768_garden-of-eden_it-was-my-father-who-called-the-city-the_571678.jpg)

## Other authors on South carolina

## More by Pat Conroy

> [A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/a-recipe-is-a-story-that-ends-with-a-good-meal/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [Except for memory, time would have no meaning at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/except-for-memory-time-would-have-no-meaning-at-all/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [It's an article of faith that the novels I've loved will live inside me forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/it-s-an-article-of-faith-that-the-novels-i-ve-loved-will-live-inside/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“my folks wouldn't read a book if you put a gun to their dicks. but they read people all day long and always get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-folks-wouldn-t-read-a-book-if-you-put-a-gun-to-their-dicks-but/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [Cameras are a lifesaver for very shy people who have nowhere else to hide. Behind a lens they can disguise the fact that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/cameras-are-a-lifesaver-for-very-shy-people-who-have-nowhere-else-to/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [Carolina beach music," Dupree said, coming up on the porch. "The holiest sound on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/carolina-beach-music-dupree-said-coming-up-on-the-porch-the-holiest/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“My memory often seems like a city of exiled poets afire with the astonishment of language, each believing in the integrity of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-memory-often-seems-like-a-city-of-exiled-poets-afire-with-the/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“We began our life together at a moment of natural self-pity and defeat that left an inimitable impression on both of us. The rejection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/we-began-our-life-together-at-a-moment-of-natural-self-pity-and/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“I always liked your piety, Jack.” “I’m a lot cuter than the women of your generation,” Betsy said, playing up to Capers and Mike.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-always-liked-your-piety-jack-i-m-a-lot-cuter-than-the-women-of-your/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“From the beginning I've searched out those writers unafraid to stir up the emotions, who entrust me with their darkest passions, their most indestructible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/from-the-beginning-i-ve-searched-out-those-writers-unafraid-to-stir/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“My mother's voice and my father's fists are two bookends of my childhood, and they form the basis of my art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/my-mother-s-voice-and-my-father-s-fists-are-two-bookends-of-my/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“Over the years, my church gave me passage into a menagerie of exotic words unknown in the South: "introit," "offertory," "liturgy," "movable feast," "the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/over-the-years-my-church-gave-me-passage-into-a-menagerie-of-exotic/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“I have built a city from the books I've read. A good book sings a a timeless music that is heard in the choir…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-have-built-a-city-from-the-books-i-ve-read-a-good-book-sings-a-a/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“Time moves funny and it's hard to pin down. Occasionally, time offers you a hundred opportunities to do the right thing. Sometimes, it gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/time-moves-funny-and-it-s-hard-to-pin-down-occasionally-time-offers/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [“I take it as an article of faith that the novels I've loved will live inside me forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-take-it-as-an-article-of-faith-that-the-novels-i-ve-loved-will-live/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

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                        "text": "When I bought a collection of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, I returned home with a bright enthusiasm to begin the long march into the Russian soul. Though I've failed to read either man to completion, they both helped me to imagine that my fictional South Carolina was as vast a literary acreage as their Russia.",
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                        "text": "Here's what I love: when a great writer turns me into a Jew from Chicago, a lesbian out of South Carolina, or a black woman moving into a subway entrance in Harlem. Turn me into something else, writers of the world. Make me Muslim, heretic, hermaphrodite. Put me into a crusader's armor, a cardinal's vestments. Let me feel the pygmy's heartbeat, the queen's breast, the torturer's pleasure, the Nile's taste, or the nomad's thirst. Tell me everything that I must know. Hold nothing back.",
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                        "text": "“I had come to know the singular power of a river advancing toward the open sea and the power of tides regulating that advance. . . . Because I had seen this for the first time over the year, I could not be intimidated by guys who wore expensive shoes and flashy ties. Piedmont could fire me, bawl me out, abuse me, put it on my record that I was an incorrigible son of a bitch, make sure I never taught in South Carolina again, or cut off my teacher's pension. That was all he could do. His power was economic and emotional, not spiritual or supernatural. ”",
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                        "text": "“It was growing dark on this long southern evening, and suddenly, at the exact point her finger had indicated, the moon lifted a forehead of stunning gold above the horizon, lifted straight out of filigreed, light-intoxicated clouds that lay on the skyline in attendant veils. Behind us, the sun was setting in a simultaneous congruent withdrawal and the river turned to flame in a quiet duel of gold…The new gold of moon astonishing and ascendant, he depleted gold of sunset extinguishing itself in the long westward slide, it was the old dance of days in the Carolina marshes, the breathtaking death of days before the eyes of children, until the sun vanished, its final signature a ribbon of bullion strung across the tops of water oaks.”",
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                        "text": "“It was my father who called the city the Mansion on the River. He was talking about Charleston, South Carolina, and he was a native son, peacock proud of a town so pretty it makes your eyes ache with pleasure just to walk down its spellbinding, narrow streets. Charleston was my father’s ministry, his hobbyhorse, his quiet obsession, and the great love of his life. His bloodstream lit up my own with a passion for the city that I’ve never lost nor ever will. I’m Charleston-born, and bred. The city’s two rivers, the Ashley and the Cooper, have flooded and shaped all the days of my life on this storied peninsula. I carry the delicate porcelain beauty of Charleston like the hinged shell of some soft-tissued mollusk. My soul is peninsula-shaped and sun-hardened and river-swollen. The high tides of the city flood my consciousness each day, subject to the whims and harmonies of full moons rising out of the Atlantic. I grow calm when I see the ranks of palmetto trees pulling guard duty on the banks of Colonial Lake or hear the bells of St. Michael’s calling cadence in the cicada-filled trees along Meeting Street. Deep in my bones, I knew early that I was one of those incorrigible creatures known as Charlestonians. It comes to me as a surprising form of knowledge that my time in the city is more vocation than gift; it is my destiny, not my choice. I consider it a high privilege to be a native of one of the loveliest American cities, not a high-kicking, glossy, or lipsticked city, not a city with bells on its fingers or brightly painted toenails, but a ruffled, low-slung city, understated and tolerant of nothing mismade or ostentatious. Though Charleston feels a seersuckered, tuxedoed view of itself, it approves of restraint far more than vainglory. As a boy, in my own backyard I could catch a basket of blue crabs, a string of flounder, a dozen redfish, or a net full of white shrimp. All this I could do in a city enchanting enough to charm cobras out of baskets, one so corniced and filigreed and elaborate that it leaves strangers awed and natives self-satisfied. In its shadows you can find metalwork as delicate as lace and spiral staircases as elaborate as yachts. In the secrecy of its gardens you can discover jasmine and camellias and hundreds of other plants that look embroidered and stolen from the Garden of Eden for the sheer love of richness and the joy of stealing from the gods. In its kitchens, the stoves are lit up in happiness as the lamb is marinating in red wine sauce, vinaigrette is prepared for the salad, crabmeat is anointed with sherry, custards are baked in the oven, and buttermilk biscuits cool on the counter.”",
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