Authors:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Anne Lamott Quotes - Page 12

All Quotes Acceptance Age Animation Anxiety Art Atheist Awakening Belief Caring Certainty Character Children Church Commitment Community Culture Dancing Discipline Doubt Drinking Earth Effort Energy Expectations Faith Fear Feelings Giving Giving Up God Goodness Grace Gratitude Grief Grieving Hardship Hate Healing Heart Heaven Home Hurt Inspiration Inspirational Inspiring Intuition Jesus Joy Laughter Life Loss Lying Magic Makeup Mask Memories Morning Mountain Pain Parenting Past Perfectionism Prayer Progress Reading Reality Recovery Resentment Running Self Esteem Shame Silence Singing Son Soul Spring Struggle Students Suffering Sunday Tea Understanding Vision Waiting Water Worry Writing

Most people's intuitions are drowned out by folk sayings. We have a moment of real feeling or insight, and then we come up with a folk saying that captures the insight in a kind of wash. The intuition may be real and

Most people's intuitions are drowned out by folk sayings. We have a moment of real feeling or insight, and then we come up with a folk saying that captures the insight in a kind of wash. The intuition may be real and ripe, fresh with possibilities, but the folk saying is guaranteed to be a cliche, stale and self-contained.

Real, Self, People

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.113, Anchor

The depth of the feeling continued to surprise and threaten me, but each time it hit again and I bore it...I would discover that it hadn't washed me away.

Feelings, Depth, Surprise

We write to expose the unexposed. If there is one door in the castle you have been told not to go through, you must. The writer's job is to turn the unspeakable into words - not just into any words, but if we can, into rhythm and blues.

Jobs, Writing, Doors

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.198, Anchor

I am the woman I grew to be partly in spite of my mother, and partly because of the extraordinary love of her best friends, and my own best friends' mothers, and from surrogates, many of whom were not women at all but gay men. I have loved them my entire life, even after their passing.

Inspiring, Mothers Day, Gay

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life Besides, perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force (these are words we are allowed to use in California).

Block, Writing, California

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.28, Anchor

And we've read scary books and watched scary movies and TV shows together. He's met monsters, ghouls, and demons on the page and on the screen. There's nothing like watching Anaconda with your best friend or lying in bed next to your mother reading Roald Dahl, because that way you get to explore dark stuff safely. You get to laugh with it, to step out on the vampire's dance floor and take him for a spin, and then step back into your life. When you make friends with fear, it can't rule you.

Mother, Fear, Lying

Anne Lamott (2000). “Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith”, Anchor

We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little.

Writing, Sheep, Needs

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.3, Anchor

What if we never 'get over' certain deaths, or our childhoods? What if the idea that we should have by now, or will, is a great palace lie? What if we're not supposed to? What if it takes a life time...?

Lying, Should Have, Ideas

And I felt like my heart had been so thoroughly and irreparably broken that there could be no real joy again, that at best there might eventually be a little contentment. Everyone wanted me to get help and rejoin life, pick up the pieces and move on, and I tried to, I wanted to, but I just had to lie in the mud with my arms wrapped around myself, eyes closed, grieving, until I didn’t have to anymore.

Real, Lying, Moving

"Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year". Book by Anne Lamott, 1993.

Writing takes a combination of sophistication and innocence; it takes conscience, our belief that something is beautiful because it is right.

Beautiful, Writing, Innocence

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.205, Anchor

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship

Reading, Writing, Heart

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.237, Anchor

I think Jesus is divine love manifest on Earth, as it comes through the community of Christians.

Christian, Jesus, Thinking

Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.

Writing, Effort, Needs

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.25, Anchor

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor; the enemy of the people. It will keep you insane your whole life.

Positive, Positivity, Voice

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.28, Anchor

Lies cannot nourish or protect you. Only freedom from fear, freedom from lies, can make us beautiful, and keep us safe.

Beautiful, Fear, Lying

Anne Lamott (2008). “Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith”, p.61, Penguin

Some people won't go the extra mile, and then on their birthday, when no one makes a fuss, they feel neglected and bitter.

Birthday, People, Going The Extra Mile

Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly.

Believe, Writing, Done

Talking to the parents of older kids was helpful for me, since parents of kids the same age as yours won't admit how horrible their children are.

Children, Kids, Talking

Anne Lamott (2006). “Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith”, p.94, Penguin

Try looking at your mind as a wayward puppy that you are trying to paper train. You don't drop-kick a puppy into the neighbor's yard every time it piddles on the floor. You just keep bringing it back to the newspaper.

Patience, Mind, Trying

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.99, Anchor

I've seen prayers answered. But often, in my experiences, if you get what you pray for, you've really shortchanged yourself.

Prayer, Praying, Ifs

one thing about having a baby is that each step of the way you simply cannot imagine loving him any more than you already do, because you are bursting with love, loving as much as you are humanly capable of- and then you do, you love him even more.

Baby, Way, Steps

Anne Lamott (1994). “Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year”, Fawcett

Perfectionism means that you try not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.

Mean, Trying, Cleaning

I don't know where to start," one [writing student] will wail. Start with your childhood, I tell them. Plug your nose and jump in, and write down all your memories as truthfully as you can. Flannery O' Connor said that anyone who has survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life. Maybe your childhood was grim and horrible, but grim and horrible is Okay if it is well done. Don't worry about doing it well yet, though. Just get it down.

Memories, Writing, Worry

For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.

Writing, Way, Firsts

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.22, Anchor

The best thing about being an artist, instead of a madman or someone who writes letters to the editor, is that you get to engage in satisfying work. Even if you never publish a word, you have something important to pour yourself into.

Writing, Artist, Editors

Anne Lamott (2007). “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, p.236, Anchor

You May Also Like: