Quotes by Anne Lamott

“You can safely assume that youve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.”

“Seeing yourself in print is such an amazing concept: you can get so much attention without having to actually show up somewhere . . .You dont have to dress up, for instance, and you cant hear them boo you right away.”

“A hundred years from now? All new people.”

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”

“[Lamott is an unstoppable storyteller, whether writing about church-going with a sullen adolescent or reconciling with her late mother. She rages against the Iraq war but takes comfort from her sage-like Presbyterian minister, who says faith] is not about how we feel; it is about how we live. ... Rule 1: We are all family. Rule 2: You reap exactly what you sow, that is, you cannot grow tulips from zucchini seeds. Rule 3: Try to breathe every few minutes or so. Rule 4: It helps beyond words to plant bulbs in the dark of winter. Rule 5: It is immoral to hit first.”

“All the older people who are thriving have stayed physically active — there are exceptions, and everyone knows someone who smoked two packs a day and had a few social beers with breakfast every morning who lived to be 85, but you have to assume that this wont be you, ... Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith.”

“Ive written six novels and four pieces of nonfiction, so I dont really have a genre these days.”

I dont remember who said this, but there really are places in the heart you dont even know exist until you love a child.

Hope is not about proving anything. Its about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you wont have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who arent even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while theyre doing it.

E.L. Doctorow said once said that Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. You dont have to see where youre going, you dont have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This is right up there with the best advice on writing, or life, I have ever heard.

Its good to do uncomfortable things. Its weight training for life.

Its funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said do the best you can with these, they will have to do. And mostly, against all odds, they do.

Your problem is how you are going to spend this one and precious life you have been issued. Whether youre going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.

Laughter is carbonated holiness.

I think joy and sweetness and affection are a spiritual path. Were here to know God, to love and serve God, and to be blown away by the beauty and miracle of nature. You just have to get rid of so much baggage to be light enough to dance, to sing, to play. You dont have time to carry grudges; you dont have time to cling to the need to be right.

The road to enlightenment is long and difficult, and you should try not to forget snacks and magazines.

...most of the time, all you have is the moment, and the imperfect love of the people around you.

You can safely assume youve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.