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Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott Quotes

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Famous Anne Lamott Quotes

“Oh, my God. What if you wake up some day, and you're 65 or 75, and you never got your novel or memoir written; or you didn't go swimming in warm pools or oceans because your thighs were jiggly or you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It's going to break your heart. Don't let this happen.”

PeopleIfsHeartBigsHappensKidsImaginationSpaceBreakNovelCreativeNiceWrittenOceanComfortableWake UpWarmMemoirRadicalStaringWhat IfSwimmingPoolPerfectionismThighsBreak Your HeartJuicyCreative LifeSillinessPleasing PeopleStaring Into Space
Author:Anne Lamott
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“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.”

HeartLittlesRealHelpingMightEyeWantedMovingJoyLyingFeltHealingPiecesBrokenArmsMy HeartPicksGrievingContentmentMudReal Joy
Author:Anne Lamott
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“You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”

HeartStillsLosesHurtLossGriefForeverBrokenColdNewsLegsHealWeatherRecoveryBelovedGrievingPetGrief And LossGet OverGood NewsBereavementCopingSealsLive ForeverBad NewsGrief And HealingLove And LossGriefingLosing SomeonePet LossLoss Of A Loved OneGrief LossLove LossLoss Loved One InspirationalGrief HealingInspirational GriefMourning Loss Loved OneGrieving InspirationalHealing From LossBroken LegGrief And Loss InspirationalGrieving A LossLost SomeoneMemory Of Someone
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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“There's a lovely Hasidic story of a rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts. One of them asked, "Why on our hearts, and not in them?" The rabbi answered, "Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on your heart, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside.”

PeopleIfsHeartStoriesFallReadingBreakHolySacredScriptureLovelyHeart BreakRabbiTorahSacred Texts
Book:Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
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“I don’t know why life isn’t constructed to be seamless and safe, why we make such glaring mistakes, things fall so short of our expectations, and our hearts get broken and out kids do scary things and our parents get old and don’t always remember to put pants on before they go out for a stroll. I don’t know why it’s not more like it is in the movies, why things don’t come out neatly and lessons can’t be learned when you’re in the mood for learning them, why love and grace often come in such motley packaging.”

KnowsHeartKidsRememberFallParentMistakeGraceBrokenLessonsSafeExpectationsScaryMoodPantsScary ThingsSeamlessPackaging
Author:Anne Lamott
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“If you always dreamed of writing a novel or a memoir, and you used to love to write, and were pretty good at it, will it break your heart if it turns out you never got around to it? If you wake up one day at eighty, will you feel nonchalant that something always took precedence over a daily commitment to discovering your creative spirit? If not--if this very thought fills you with regret--then what are you waiting for?”

IfsFeelsWritingHeartUsedSpiritTurnsWaitingBreakNovelCreativeRegretOne DayCommitmentWake UpMemoirDiscoveringEightyBreak Your HeartPrecedenceUsed To LoveCreative SpiritNonchalant
Author:Anne Lamott
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“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”

PeopleWritingHeartTogetherSpiritReadingSeaTerribleSingingStormRageShipsBoatIsolationDecreaseWriting And Reading
Book:Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
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“Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides. It means that you are willing to stop being such a jerk. When you are aware of all that has been given to you, in your lifetime and the past few days, it is hard not to be humbled, and pleased to give back.”

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Author:Anne Lamott
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