--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My gratitude for good writing is…" description: "\"My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.\" — Anne Lamott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/anne-lamott-188_good-writing_my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbound_1689997.png" --- # My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful… ![“My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.” quote by Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/anne-lamott-188_good-writing_my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbound_1689997.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/anne-lamott-188_good-writing_my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbound_1689997.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/anne-lamott-188_good-writing_my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbound_1689997.png) > “My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.” [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is a source of deep, limitless appreciation, akin to the awe of the ocean. **In simple terms:** Writing feels as vast as the sea. Key Takeaway Cherish and protect good writing. Themes gratitude writing beauty Mood reflective admiring Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - reading clubs - writing workshops - personal reflection - teaching writing Key Concepts aesthetic appreciation creative inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How does writing inspire your sense of wonder? - What can you do to support writers? A Different Perspective Appreciation may overlook the effort behind writing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Good writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-writing/) [Grateful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grateful/) [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/because-for-some-of-us-books-are-as-important-as-almost-anything-else/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [When you have come from the bottom and worked your way to the top, you are more grateful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-smalling/when-you-have-come-from-the-bottom-and-worked-your-way-to-the-top-you/) [Chris Smalling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-smalling/) > [A simple way to be grateful is to close your eyes for a minute and think of those who never got a chance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/a-simple-way-to-be-grateful-is-to-close-your-eyes-for-a-minute-and/) RVM > [“I was grateful to Ben the way you are grateful to someone who is unexpectedly kind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-drake-harris/i-was-grateful-to-ben-the-way-you-are-grateful-to-someone-who-is/) Cheryl Drake Harris > [So overall, though my life is far from perfect, I'm contented with it. And in a peculiar way, I'm grateful for the troubling emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yongey-mingyur-rinpoche/so-overall-though-my-life-is-far-from-perfect-i-m-contented-with-it/) [Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yongey-mingyur-rinpoche/) > [God uses singers in a mighty way, and I am grateful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-reeves/god-uses-singers-in-a-mighty-way-and-i-am-grateful/) [Martha Reeves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-reeves/) > [Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something-anything-down on paper. A friend of mine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/almost-all-good-writing-begins-with-terrible-first-efforts-you-need-2/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/almost-all-good-writing-begins-with-terrible-first-efforts-you-need/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-very-first-thing-i-tell-my-new-students-on-the-first-day-of-a/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper. 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If the writing is in TV or if it's in theater or in film, that's it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-driver/my-only-close-to-game-plan-is-to-follow-good-writing-if-the-writing/) [Adam Driver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-driver/) ## More by Anne Lamott > [What an incredible drug fear is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/what-an-incredible-drug-fear-is/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [It's funny where we look for salvation, and where we actually find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/it-s-funny-where-we-look-for-salvation-and-where-we-actually-find-it/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/publication-is-not-all-that-it-is-cracked-up-to-be-but-writing-is/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/your-problem-is-how-you-are-going-to-spend-this-one-odd-and-precious/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [And yet, I do believe there is ultimately meaning in the chaos, and also in the doldrums. What I resist is not the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/and-yet-i-do-believe-there-is-ultimately-meaning-in-the-chaos-and/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Raising a child, whether or not it is yours, is like Nautilus of the heart and soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/raising-a-child-whether-or-not-it-is-yours-is-like-nautilus-of-the/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I heard a preacher say recently that hope is a revolutionary patience; let me add that so is being a writer. Hope begins in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-heard-a-preacher-say-recently-that-hope-is-a-revolutionary-patience/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-think-perfectionism-is-based-on-the-obsessive-belief-that-if-you/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [All criticism hurts me. I'm so in the wrong business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/all-criticism-hurts-me-i-m-so-in-the-wrong-business/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [We are going to die, as is everyone we adore - I hate this! But the question is, how do we live as women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/we-are-going-to-die-as-is-everyone-we-adore-i-hate-this-but-the/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“You will go through your life thinking there was a day in second grade that you must have missed, when the grown-ups came in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/you-will-go-through-your-life-thinking-there-was-a-day-in-second/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“You begin to string words together like beads to tell a story. You are desperate to communicate, to edify or entertain, to preserve moments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/you-begin-to-string-words-together-like-beads-to-tell-a-story-you-are/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“You lose the known package of your nice organized self almost instantly here. Overeating is one way back, the way it is at funerals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/you-lose-the-known-package-of-your-nice-organized-self-almost/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) [Explore all 976 Anne Lamott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) ## More Good writing quotes > [My only close-to-game-plan is to follow good writing. If the writing is in TV or if it's in theater or in film, that's it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-driver/my-only-close-to-game-plan-is-to-follow-good-writing-if-the-writing/) [Adam Driver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-driver/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I don't think that writing, real writing, has much to do with affirming belief--if anything it causes rifts and gaps in belief which make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-evenson/i-don-t-think-that-writing-real-writing-has-much-to-do-with-affirming/) [Brian Evenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-evenson/) > [“But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every words that serves no function, every long word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/but-the-secret-of-good-writing-is-to-strip-every-sentence-to-its/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [There is sometimes a feeling in crime fiction that good writing gets in the way of story. I have never felt that way. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/there-is-sometimes-a-feeling-in-crime-fiction-that-good-writing-gets/) [John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/) > [There is no royal path to good writing; and such paths as exist do not lead through neat critical gardens, various as they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessamyn-west/there-is-no-royal-path-to-good-writing-and-such-paths-as-exist-do-not/) [Jessamyn West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessamyn-west/) > [ David Mamet, Tim Kazurinsky, and Denise DeClue, who adapted \[ About Last Night\]. Between the three of them... I mean, it's always down to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/david-mamet-tim-kazurinsky-and-denise-declue-who-adapted-about-last/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [Agents and publishers only want one thing - good writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/agents-and-publishers-only-want-one-thing-good-writing/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [ Hypertext makes a virtue out of lack of organization, allowing ideas and thoughts to be juxtaposed at will. \[...\] The advent of hypertext is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-a-norman/hypertext-makes-a-virtue-out-of-lack-of-organization-allowing-ideas/) [Donald A. Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-a-norman/) > [The very first thing I tell my new students on the first day of a workshop is that good writing is about telling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-very-first-thing-i-tell-my-new-students-on-the-first-day-of-a/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I think that's one of the maybe under-discussed aspects of process - the difference between a good writing day and a bad one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-think-that-s-one-of-the-maybe-under-discussed-aspects-of-process/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [Good writing is lean and confident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/good-writing-is-lean-and-confident/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. There are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/our-tragedy-today-is-a-general-and-universal-physical-fear-so-long/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [We're not just writers; we're readers probably more than anything else. That's how you learn how to write and how you learn to appreciate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/we-re-not-just-writers-we-re-readers-probably-more-than-anything-else/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/almost-all-good-writing-begins-with-terrible-first-efforts-you-need/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) [Browse all 348 Good writing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-writing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Lamott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbounded-i-m-grateful-for-it-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Good writing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbounded-i-m-grateful-for-it-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/anne-lamott-188_good-writing_my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbound_1689997.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/anne-lamott-188_good-writing_my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbound_1689997.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/anne-lamott-188_good-writing_my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbound_1689997.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.” — Anne Lamott", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anne Lamott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My gratitude for good writing is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbounded-i-m-grateful-for-it-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/my-gratitude-for-good-writing-is-unbounded-i-m-grateful-for-it-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```