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Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott Quotes

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Famous Anne Lamott Quotes

“We're like Magic 8-Balls. After you ask your question and shake the 8-Ball, you read the answer in the little window. If you ever broke open a Magic 8-Ball with a hammer, you discovered that it contained a many-sided plastic object, with an answer on every facet, floating in a cylinder of murky blue fluid. The many-sided core held the answer to your question. My theory is that, as with our children, as with every surface of that geodesic dome inside the 8-Ball, every age we've ever been is who we are.”

IfsChildrenLittlesAgeAsksAnswersMagicObjectsTheoryWindowBallsOur ChildrenBlueSurfaceCoreBrokeWho We AreShakesPlasticFloatingHammersFluidFacetsDomesCylinders
Book:Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
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“Here are the two best prayers I know: 'Help me, help me, help me,' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' A woman I know says, for her morning prayer, 'Whatever,' and then for the evening, 'Oh, well,' but has conceded that these prayers are more palatable for people without children.”

PeopleKnowsWellsChildrenTwoHelpingPrayerMorningEveningHelp MeOh WellConcededBest PrayerMorning Prayer
Book:Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
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“Having a child as a single mother was a crucible - maybe this is true for all parents. I got rid of so much stuff that didn't really matter in the scheme of things-like throwing stuff out of an airplane that kept me flying too low. What was left was essential, i.e. not a lot of extraneous stuff that had kept me busy and people-pleasing. I just didn't have the luxury of wasting my life force on so much stupidity and distraction. That made me strong.”

PeopleChildrenMadeMatterMotherLeftStrongForceStuffParentEssentialsLowsBusyStupidityFlyingLuxuryThrowingDistractionAirplaneSchemesSingle MotherCrucible
Author:Anne Lamott
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“We can't understand when we're pregnant, or when our siblings are expecting, how profound it is to have a shared history with a younger generation: blood, genes, humor. It means we were actually here, on Earth, for a time - like the Egyptians with their pyramids, only with children.”

MeanChildrenEarthGenerationsBloodProfoundGenesExpectingPregnantSiblingPyramidsYounger GenerationMy SiblingsYoung GenerationSibling DayYounger SiblingsEgyptian Pyramids
Author:Anne Lamott
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“As a Christian and a feminist, the most important message I can carry and fight for is the sacredness of each human life, and reproductive rights for all women are a crucial part of that. It is a moral necessity that we not be forced to bring children into the world for whom we cannot be responsible and adoring and present. We must not inflict life on children who will be resented; we must not inflict unwanted children on society.”

WorldHumansChildrenI CanImportantChristianFightingMoralRightsMessagesResponsibleFeministHuman LifeCrucialBeing ResponsibleUnwantedSacrednessReproductive Rights
Book:Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
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“Clutter and mess show us that life is being lived...Tidiness makes me think of held breath, of suspended animation... Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist's true friend. What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here.”

PeopleThinkingNeedsMeanChildrenShowsFormLife IsArtistOrderBreathsMessWho We AreIdealismFrozenAnimationTrue FriendPerfectionismClutterSuspendedWhy We Are Here
Author:Anne Lamott
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“Let’s think of reverence as awe, as presence in and openness to the world…Try walking around with a child who’s going, ‘Wow, wow! Look at that dirty dog! Look at that burned-down house! Look at that red sky!’ And the child points, and you look, and you see, and you start going, ‘Wow! Look at that huge crazy hedge! Look at that teeny little baby! Look at the scary dark cloud!’ I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world – present and in awe.”

ThinkingWorldTryingLooksChildrenLittlesHouseDarkSkyCrazyDogHugeBabyWalkingRedCloudsScarySupposed To BeDirtyAweOpennessWowReverenceBurnedDark Clouds
Author:Anne Lamott
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“I don't remember who said this, but there really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child.”

KnowsHeartChildrenSaidKidsRememberParentInspiringParentingLovelyParenthoodFunny InspirationalBeing A ParentChildren And ParentsParents LoveFunny ParentingParent ChildFunny ParentLove Your ChildrenInspirational ParentingParenthood FunnyInspirational ParentsPerfect Parents
Book:Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year
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“You were loved because God loves, period. God loved you, and everyone, not because you believed in certain things, but because you were a mess, and lonely, and His or Her child. God loved you no matter how crazy you felt on the inside, no matter what a fake you were; always, even in your current condition, even before coffee. God loves you crazily, like I love you...like a slightly overweight auntie, who sees only your marvelousness and need.”

NeedsChildrenMatterCertainFeltCrazyConditionsLove YouPeriodsLonelyNo Matter WhatCurrentsCoffeeMessGod LoveFakeOverweightGod Loves YouLove You LikeI Love You LikeAuntie
Book:Imperfect Birds: A Novel
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“I suspect that he was a child who thought differently than his peers, who may have had serious conversations with grown-ups, who as a young person, like me, accepted being alone quite a lot. I think that this sort of person often becomes either a writer or a career criminal.”

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Book:Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
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“You've got to learn to let go and let your children fall, and fail. If you try to protect them from hurt, and always rush to their side with Band-Aids, they won't learn about life, and what is true, what works, what helps, and what are real consequences of certain kinds of behavior. When they do get hurt, which they will, they won't know how to take care of their grown selves. They won't even know where the aspirin is kept.”

IfsKnowsTryingKindChildrenRealSelfHelpingCareCertainFallSidesHurtKnow HowFailingBandProtectLetting GoBehaviorConsequenceTake CareAidsYour ChildrenAspirinBand AidLearn To Let Go
Author:Anne Lamott
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“You try to sit down at approximately the same time every day. This is how you train your unconscious to kick in for you creatively. ... You put a piece of paper in the typewriter, or you turn on your computer and bring up the right file. ... You begin rocking, just a little at first, and then like a huge autistic child. ... Then your mental illnesses arrive at the desk like your sickest, most secretive relatives. And they pull up chairs in a semicircle around the computer, and they try to be quiet but you know they are there with their weird coppery breath, leering at you behind your back.”

KnowsTryingFirstsChildrenLittlesTurnsBehindsPiecesHugeLike YouQuietPaperComputerBreathsTrainIllnessMental IllnessKicksUnconsciousChairsDesksFilesTurn-onTypewritersAutisticSecretivePull UpsBehind Your BackAutistic Children
Author:Anne Lamott
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