--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never got too specialized but did like…" description: "\"I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.\" — Mat Kearney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/mat-kearney-3612_gothic_i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like_560898.png" --- # I never got too specialized but did like the Southern… ![“I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.” quote by Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/mat-kearney-3612_gothic_i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like_560898.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/mat-kearney-3612_gothic_i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like_560898.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/mat-kearney-3612_gothic_i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like_560898.png) > “I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.” [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker values broad literary exposure over narrow specialization, admiring Southern Gothic authors for their depth and style. **In simple terms:** Broad reading beats narrow focus. Key Takeaway Embrace diverse influences. Themes literature diversity personal growth Mood reflective curious Type personal literary When to use this quote - writing workshops - college curricula - personal reading lists Key Concepts Southern Gothic author influence creative inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance breadth and depth? - Which genre challenges you most? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on breadth may dilute mastery. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gothic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic/) [Writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers/) ## Related quotes > [I grew up reading a lot of these super weird, genre-bending Southern gothic writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/i-grew-up-reading-a-lot-of-these-super-weird-genre-bending-southern/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [In college, I had a big fixation with Southern Gothic literature. Flannery O'Connor, I read every word she's ever written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-feuerzeig/in-college-i-had-a-big-fixation-with-southern-gothic-literature/) [Jeff Feuerzeig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-feuerzeig/) > [I'm really influenced by Southern novelists, not many movie people. More like John Faulkner, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, Flannery O'Connor, John Steinbeck, and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bob-thornton/i-m-really-influenced-by-southern-novelists-not-many-movie-people/) [Billy Bob Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bob-thornton/) > [When I was twelve, I started reading Eudora Welty, Thomas Wolfe, Flannery O'Connor, James Agee, and - do we dare breathe the name -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-mayes/when-i-was-twelve-i-started-reading-eudora-welty-thomas-wolfe/) [Frances Mayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-mayes/) > [I wanted to make comics that get at feelings that connect to the deepest moments of our lives, reading Tolstoy, Flaubert, Flannery O'Connor, Herman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-ware/i-wanted-to-make-comics-that-get-at-feelings-that-connect-to-the/) [Chris Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-ware/) > [Southern Gothic is alive and well. It's not just a genre, it is a way of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-iles/southern-gothic-is-alive-and-well-it-s-not-just-a-genre-it-is-a-way/) [Greg Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-iles/) > [“Many see Southern Gothic literature as just recalling the "bad old days." This is not the case. There are still those places in Florida…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-thomas/many-see-southern-gothic-literature-as-just-recalling-the-bad-old/) [Damon Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-thomas/) > [“Spanish Moss- A Southern Gothic, a Live Oak Lady, caressing limbs, secret and shady. Wild and pale, curly and thin, She's a tease in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ghigna/spanish-moss-a-southern-gothic-a-live-oak-lady-caressing-limbs-secret/) [Charles Ghigna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ghigna/) > [A shivery, delicious Southern Gothic with feuding families, dark spirits, ancient curses and caught up in the middle, a young girl learning to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-cypess/a-shivery-delicious-southern-gothic-with-feuding-families-dark/) [Leah Cypess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-cypess/) > [One of the biggest gripes I've always had with my own fans is romanticizing the southern-gothic aspect of my work while disrespecting the legacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-cain/one-of-the-biggest-gripes-i-ve-always-had-with-my-own-fans-is/) [Ethel Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-cain/) > [I feel like Southern hip-hop was my saving grace going into country music because I had built a business already. I had built a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jelly-roll/i-feel-like-southern-hip-hop-was-my-saving-grace-going-into-country/) [Jelly Roll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jelly-roll/) > [Ain't nothing in the whole wide world like a southern girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-mcgraw/ain-t-nothing-in-the-whole-wide-world-like-a-southern-girl/) [Tim McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-mcgraw/) > [I like southern girls. They talk so slow that by the time they say no, I made it already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/i-like-southern-girls-they-talk-so-slow-that-by-the-time-they-say-no/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [Like every Southern writer, I thought that I needed to write the next 'Gone With the Wind.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/like-every-southern-writer-i-thought-that-i-needed-to-write-the-next/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [“She moved like southern lemonade, smooth and sticky sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skeeter-wesinger/she-moved-like-southern-lemonade-smooth-and-sticky-sweet/) Skeeter Wesinger ## More by Mat Kearney > [My dad was a scratch golfer growing up. When I'm on the road, I always bring my clubs with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/my-dad-was-a-scratch-golfer-growing-up-when-i-m-on-the-road-i-always/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [With 'City of Black & White,' I wanted a record that would make you feel good, that would sort of take you up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/with-city-of-black-white-i-wanted-a-record-that-would-make-you-feel/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [The first year I moved to Nashville, I started playing these songwriter nights with people like Nickel Creek, Duncan Sheik, and even Ryan Adams...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/the-first-year-i-moved-to-nashville-i-started-playing-these/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [When we tour, there's always this unique quality to every town you visit... Touring, you get a sense of a collective identity for different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/when-we-tour-there-s-always-this-unique-quality-to-every-town-you/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [I meant what I said when I said until my dying day.I'm holding on to you, holding on to me.Maybe it's all gone black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-meant-what-i-said-when-i-said-until-my-dying-day-i-m-holding-on-to/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [God found me when I was at my lowest point. That was the first time in my life when I really felt like I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/god-found-me-when-i-was-at-my-lowest-point-that-was-the-first-time-in/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [It's not the circumstances that determine who you're gonna be but how you deal with these problems and pains that come your way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/it-s-not-the-circumstances-that-determine-who-you-re-gonna-be-but-how/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [I'm really influenced by '90s hip hop. A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul were my heroes growing up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-m-really-influenced-by-90s-hip-hop-a-tribe-called-quest-and-de-la/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [Well, I never made a record to be in the Christian market. So when I made my record it was to exist in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/well-i-never-made-a-record-to-be-in-the-christian-market-so-when-i/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [I guess we're all one phone call from our knees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-guess-we-re-all-one-phone-call-from-our-knees/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [I love creating moments that feel bigger than just like an artist on stage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-love-creating-moments-that-feel-bigger-than-just-like-an-artist-on/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [Just because you've written a song doesn't mean that you have pulled through. There are definitely songs where I embodied someone else's pain and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/just-because-you-ve-written-a-song-doesn-t-mean-that-you-have-pulled/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [It's silly to throw things out or label things. You know, is U2 a Christian band, or was Johnny Cash a Christian country singer?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/it-s-silly-to-throw-things-out-or-label-things-you-know-is-u2-a/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [Generally, the songs that are the scariest ones are the ones that people connect to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/generally-the-songs-that-are-the-scariest-ones-are-the-ones-that/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) > [I do know great books help shape who I am and how I look at life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-do-know-great-books-help-shape-who-i-am-and-how-i-look-at-life/) [Mat Kearney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) [Explore all 126 Mat Kearney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/) ## More Gothic quotes > [Gothic in its purest sense is actually a very powerful, twisted genre, but the way it was being used by by journalists - 'goff'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siouxsie-sioux/gothic-in-its-purest-sense-is-actually-a-very-powerful-twisted-genre/) [Siouxsie Sioux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siouxsie-sioux/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“The marine underworld stretched below the ship and embodied many secrets. The disappearance of Olga had become one of the mysteries that would remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-apan/the-marine-underworld-stretched-below-the-ship-and-embodied-many/) Tiffany Apan > [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/) Echo and the Bunnymen > [There are few of us who have not sometimes wakened before dawn, either after one of those dreamless nights that make one almost enamoured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-few-of-us-who-have-not-sometimes-wakened-before-dawn-either/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“And when she had spoken such a rhapsody, she would press me more closely in her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheridan-le-fanu/and-when-she-had-spoken-such-a-rhapsody-she-would-press-me-more/) [Sheridan Le Fanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheridan-le-fanu/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Cavernous windows opened in a silent scream on the face of the Gothic house that tilted on the crest of Foster Hill. Its gables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-jo-wright/cavernous-windows-opened-in-a-silent-scream-on-the-face-of-the-gothic/) [Jaime Jo Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-jo-wright/) > [“Those mornings were fragile things — like flowers blooming in the middle of a battlefield. She hadn’t realized then that the soil beneath them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-sn/those-mornings-were-fragile-things-like-flowers-blooming-in-the/) Maggie Sn > [Most buildings, whether they're Gothic cathedrals or Romanesque ones, were high tech for their time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/most-buildings-whether-they-re-gothic-cathedrals-or-romanesque-ones/) [Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/) > [“And so the afternoon stretched on, and Ezbon toasted their imminent defeat to the dregs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-n-faust/and-so-the-afternoon-stretched-on-and-ezbon-toasted-their-imminent/) [C.N. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-n-faust/) > [Below are some quotations along these lines. Select a quote for your Gothic Myspace layout or contribute one of your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ramirez/below-are-some-quotations-along-these-lines-select-a-quote-for-your/) [Laura Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ramirez/) > [“A good enemy can be better than the best of friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-panova/a-good-enemy-can-be-better-than-the-best-of-friend/) [Simona Panova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-panova/) > [Magic is a state of mind. It is often portrayed as very black and gothic, and that is because certain practitioners played that up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/magic-is-a-state-of-mind-it-is-often-portrayed-as-very-black-and/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [“The search party became zombie silhouettes in shafts of early-morning light, yawning, despondent, and halfway home when a boy’s scream pierced the fog—“OVER HERE!”—and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-vander-ark-2/the-search-party-became-zombie-silhouettes-in-shafts-of-early-morning/) [Jake Vander-Ark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-vander-ark-2/) [Browse all 364 Gothic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mat Kearney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like-the-southern-gothic-writers/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gothic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like-the-southern-gothic-writers/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/mat-kearney-3612_gothic_i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like_560898.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/mat-kearney-3612_gothic_i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like_560898.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a01/mat-kearney-3612_gothic_i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like_560898.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery…” — Mat Kearney", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mat Kearney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mat-kearney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I never got too specialized but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like-the-southern-gothic-writers/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mat-kearney/i-never-got-too-specialized-but-did-like-the-southern-gothic-writers/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```