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Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott Quotes

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Famous Anne Lamott Quotes

“If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.”

IfsWritingRealInterestingEmotionMoralRiskEmotionalTruth IsUniversalObligationRevolutionaryVulnerabilityTelling The TruthSubversiveMoral ObligationReal Emotion
Author:Anne Lamott
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“Little by little, in telling Sam all these details, I got to see the bigger point of baseball, that it can give us back ourselves. We’re a crowd animal, a highly gregarious, communicative species, but the culture and the age and all the fear that fills our days have put almost everyone into little boxes, each of us all alone. But baseball, if we love it, gives us back our place in the crowd. It restores us.”

IfsGivingLittlesAgeCultureAnimalBaseballBiggerSpeciesDetailsCrowdsBoxesAll AloneGregarious
Author:Anne Lamott
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“I said that I thought the secret of life was obvious: be here now, love as if your whole life depended on it, find your life's work, and try to get hold of a giant panda. If you had a giant panda in your back yard, anything could go wrong — someone could die, or stop loving you, or you could get sick — and if you could look outside and see this adorable, ridiculous, boffo panda, you'd start to laugh; you'd be so filled with thankfulness and amusement that everything would be O.K. again.”

IfsTryingLooksSaidWholeWould BeDiesSecretLaughingSickFilledObviousWhole LifeRidiculousGiantsYardsThankfulnessAmusementLoving YouAdorableSecret LifeBe Here NowPandasStop Loving You
Author:Anne Lamott
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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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“And my fear of failure has been lifelong and deep. If you are what you do- and I think my parents may have accidentally given me this idea- and you do poorly, what then? It’s over; you’re wiped out. All those prophecies you heard in the dark have come true, and people can see the real you, see what a schmendrick you are, what a fraud.”

PeopleIfsThinkingMayHas BeensIdeasRealGivenParentDarkHeardOver YouFraudProphecyLifelongFear Of FailureReal You
Author:Anne Lamott
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“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.”

IfsKnowsWritingWellsSaidDoneEnoughMemoriesWorryChildhoodStudentsMaterialsOkayHorribleNosesSurvivedGrimWell DonePlugs
Author:Anne Lamott
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“Remember that you own what happened to you. If your childhood was less than ideal, you may have been raised thinking that if you told the truth about what really went on in your family, a long bony white finger would emerge from a cloud and point to you, while a chilling voice thundered, "We *told* you not to tell." But that was then. Just put down on paper everything you can remember now about your parents and siblings and relatives and neighbors, and we will deal with libel later on.”

IfsThinkingMayLongHas BeensRememberParentVoiceWhiteDealsHappenedChildhoodPaperIdealsRaisedFingersCloudsNeighborChillSiblingLibel
Book:Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
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“Gorgeous, amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention: mangoes, grandnieces, Bach, ponds. This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible. If you say, "Well, that's pretty much what I thought I'd see," you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here. [...] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.”

IfsWellsLittlesHappensAsksGivenAttentionOur LivesTroubleMaterialsExpectationsPay AttentionRevelationsGorgeousAstonishingAmazing ThingsPonds
Author:Anne Lamott
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“I pray not to be such a whiny, self-obsessed baby, and give thanks that I am not quite as bad as I used to be (talk about miracles). Then something comes up, and I overreact and blame and sulk, and it feels like I haven't made any progress at all. But it turns out I'm less of a brat than before, and I hit the reset button much sooner, shake it off, and get my sense if humor back.”

IfsGivingFeelsMadeSelfUsedTurnsProgressHavensBabyPrayingMiracleBlameCome UpUsed To BeThanksObsessedShakesButtonsI PrayResetBratSelf ObsessedReset Button
Author:Anne Lamott
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“Intelligence, goodness, humanity, excitement, serenity. Over time, these are the things that change the musculature of your face, as do laughter, and animation, and especially whatever peace you can broker with the person inside. It's furrow, pinch, and judgement that make us look older - our mothers were right. They said that if you made certain faces, they would stick, and they do. But our mothers forgot that faces of kindness and integrity stick as well.”

IfsWellsLooksPersonsMadeSaidFacesMotherCertainHumanityKindnessIntegrityGoodnessLaughterSticksJudgementExcitementYour FaceSerenityThey SaidAnimationBrokers
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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“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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“They believe that if they do get published, a wonderful new life is in store. It will turn out that deep down they are really valuable people and will have lots of money from now on and really cool people like Ethan Hawke will be dropping by all the time. But it's a lie. Being a published writer will make them long to be ONLY as mentally ill as they are now. Their current level of obsession and doubt and self-loathing will look like the good old days. Honest.”

PeopleIfsBelieveLooksLongSelfLife IsLyingTurnsLevelsDoubtWonderfulHonestIllCurrentsValuableStoresObsessionLots Of MoneyNew LifeDroppingDeep DownReally CoolOld DaysLoathingSelf LoathingMentally IllGood Old DaysCool People
Author:Anne Lamott
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“The last song was so deep and raw and pure that I could not escape. It was as if the people were singing in between the notes, weeping and joyful at the same time, and I felt like their voices or something was rocking me in its bosom, holding me like a scared kid, and I opened up to that feeling-and it washed over me.”

PeopleIfsFeelingsKidsLastsSongFeltVoicePureSingingNotesScaredPerformingJoyfulWeepingBosomsLast Song
Book:Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
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“Jealousy is such a direct attack on whatever measure of confidence you’ve been able to muster. But if you continue to write, you are probably going to have to deal with it, because some wonderful, dazzling successes are going to happen for some of the most awful, angry, undeserving writers you know-people who are, in other words, not you.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWritingHappensAbleDealsWonderfulDirectAngryAwfulDazzlingMusterUndeserving
Book:Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
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“All I ever wanted since I arrived here on Earth were the things that turned out to be within reach. The same things I needed as a baby - to go from cold to warm, lonely to held, the vessel to the giver, empty to full. You can change the world with a hot bath, if you sink into it from a place of knowing that you are worth profound care, even when you're dirty and rattled. Who knew?”

IfsWorldCareWantedEarthKnowingBabyColdNeededLonelyEmptyHotProfoundWarmDirtyChanging The WorldVesselBathsGiverBathingWithin ReachHot BathsSmall Victories
Author:Anne Lamott
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